Path of Swords
by Cormag Ravenstaff
Summary: "Tell me Mia, why do you fight? Why pick up the sword? Do enjoy the battle? Or do you seek fame and fortune? Do you fight for peace? Or to protect your loved ones? Tell me Mia, why do you follow this path of swords?" Sequel to The Swordmaster. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Well, those of you who know me, know I don't leave these notes above the chapter. SO READ THIS!**

**If you have not read The Swordmaster, either leave now and go read it (or don't, I don't care) or read this and it won't make sense to you.**

**Well, for those of you I know, welcome back! If you didn't realize, I did update that first chapter of TS, and yes, I'm late with this. Perhaps with being on my consistent update schedule means I can deserve a short break. I'm in a car right now and have no idea when this will be up online.**

**Alright! (Cracks fingers) So we left off with our four heroes departing for Magvel. Now, we pick up a year after that. The War of the Stones has ended, and now we're on a boat on our way to Tellius. Sorry if you were expecting some SS action!**

**Much has happened in the year between. Cormag's got a new sword, Corvus does as well (kinda) and Cynthar has a lover.**

**Got your attention yet?**

**A lot of flashbacks will happen in this fic. You'll catch on.**

**Some things in these first few chapters may be shaky game wise. PoR is the game I'm least familiar with. I can almost recite FE7 dialogue from memory, but alas! It isn't to be so with PoR.**

**Congrats to King! He won the cameo contest! As soon as he sends me the details (Hint hint) I'll get started implementing him!**

**As for the foreshadowing I did at the end of TS, I'm sure you can guess it all. We'll have two new OCs (Good guy side) and at least one for the bad guys. These next two fics will be revealing who Vincent is! And one of these OCs has something to relate to him! Oooo! Suspense! XD**

**Some characters character will change a bit. It's been a year. Deal with it.**

**I feel like I'm forgetting something…crappy memory. Ah yes! Thoughts will now be in regular text, not italics, only Vincent and his conversations will be in italics. I will specify when a thought is taking place. There will be romance in this fic and the next. Just give me a chance and a little practice, and let me take you on a journey…**

**Disclaimer: I own only Cormag, Corvus, Cynthar, Vincent and my other OCs. And King drew the cover art!**

* * *

The ocean. A vast open area of tranquility. The wind blowing a slight breeze. The waves barely cresting. The waters deep and blue. Thus had everyday been on the ship.

Cormag was sleeping on the riggings. If you could call it sleep, he was never truly asleep. His…companion, Vincent, always kept watch when he slept. No worse end than a knife to the chest in the dark.

Peaceful was the word to describe Cormag. He and his friends had wrapped up the war in Magvel quite nicely. Except…for one thing.

No Cormag, don't go there, he thought. Best to not dwell into there anytime soon. He lay like that for a short while longer before a woman's voice yelled, "Corm!"

He opened his eyes at the familiar voice. She was the newest member of the company. He slowly got up from the riggings in which he lay. He gracefully jumped down from his perch. Before him stood his red haired companion Kay Farran.

She was a sage from Grado. She was on the shorter side in height and the longer side in terms of hair. She carried Cynthar's old dagger at her side and her tomb of fire magicks in her other hand. She never left anywhere without it. It was her father's. The one she never knew who died before she was born. Her mother was a merchant who had been separated from her when she was only a few years old. She had defected from Grado's side of the war after she met and saved Cynthar's life. It was rare she wasn't at his side. They were rarely apart. The two of them were practically husband and wife.

Cormag pulled his mind out of his memories. It was nice having them for once. When you lose your memory, and can't even remember your age, memories are a precious thing. He was around twenty four, two years younger than Corvus. Cynthar was around twenty one, but being Nergal's old experiment left him uncertain as well. Apparently he had been alive since Nergal began to gather power and this was one of the many bodies of his. Nergal had transferred his soul? mind? conscious? Into each new body. Kay was the youngest at twenty. Her and Corvus were the only ones who knew their exact age.

Damn it, Cormag thought. I'm doing it again. He tended to fall into memories at sometimes.

"CORM!" Kay shouted. Apparently she had been trying to get his attention. Oops. She had always called them by their syllable of their names. Corm, Corv, Cyn, it didn't matter.

"Yes Kay?" Cormag questioned in the same tongue. Magvelian of course. Cormag knew Elibian and Magvelian and was on his way to Tellian. Everyone in the mercenaries was trying to learn Tellian before they landed. Except Kay, she was learning Elibian as well. Cynthar was teaching her. She had the mind of a scholar. Or a tactician. She absorbed books and was good with money. Corvus always joked her that she could be a book saleswoman.

"Corm, we need to be…helping? No…practicing!" she said in Tellian. They were all still shaky. They had been thrown into Magvel without knowing they spoke a different language. This time, they were determined to be prepared.

"Relax Kay, you're the one who should be practicing. Learning two languages at once is no easy…mission?...task." Cormag inwardly cursed. He wasn't confident in his abilities in Tellian. They still had another month of sea travel. Plenty of time.

"Hah! Looks like you're no better off!" Kay said laughing. Her light-hearted attitude could bring anyone out of misery. Even Cormag when he… Stop Cormag, he swore inwardly. Do. Not. Go. There!

"Kay? Where did you go?" a voice called from the cabins. It sounded like Cynthar. He knew where she'd be. He always seemed to. Always watching over her. Always protecting her. He owed her his life.

"I'm here Cyn!" she called in return.

Cynthar made his way on deck. He had his staff as usual. Due to an arrow he had taken to the foot had left him with a permanent slight limp. He could cover it up most of the time, but they all knew he could fend for himself. His staff, when spun in a circle twice, magically turned into a sword of medium length and width. Cormag had been giving him lessons.

"Ready for more practice?" He teased in Elibian. She had nearly mastered Tellian and had refocused her efforts on Elibian.

"I _am_ practicing. Speaking with Cormag in Tellian has been beneficial. It taught me he isn't as good as me in Tellian." She playfully stuck her tongue out at Cormag who rolled his eyes.

"What's going on out here?" said the last member of the company. Corvus, The Jackal of the Dunes was the commander of their mercenary company. While it was Cormag's decision to go to Magvel and Tellius, Corvus wouldn't have himself not be there.

"Tellian Corv! We need to practice!" Kay said. She had best tactical mind and best memory of the company. They would all be dead twice over without her. Corvus was probably having the most trouble with another language switch. He had finally lost his Nabatan accent. He no longer called people his 'mates' all the time.

"Sorry Kay," Corvus said scratching his dark blonde hair sheepishly, "I've just had word with the captain. He says we'll be there in three weeks. Three and a half at most."

"Oh thank Elimine, Latona and whatever those blasted Tellians swear by there. I'm sick of the ocean." Cynthar said, clearly relieved.

"I don't know Cynthar, the ocean is nice. How can you be sick of it!?" Cormag argued in one of their many innocent arguments.

"Forget the ocean, I'm sick of learning Tellian!" Cynthar muttered not so quietly.

"Come now Cyn! Being trilingual has its uses!" Kay said snuggling up next to him.

"Yeah, in a place where no one speaks the other three, how useful," he grinned slightly.

"Well, I speak a fourth that none of you speak! I'm at the advantage!" Corvus said with a serious face. At least Cormag thought it was serious, Corvus had a very good street face.

"Oh? Pray tell, Sir high and mighty Jackal?" Cynthar taunted.

"Well, I speak Sainese of course!" Corvus was beginning to let his street face slip to a grin. He got down on one knee in front of Kay, "Dame Farran! Thou art the brightest of all stars in the sky. Thy beauty puts Elimine to shame! Your breath is like the morning breeze, sweet and gentle. Your skin like…" he continued on like this for several minutes. Kay was giggling madly, Cynthar didn't know whether to be annoyed or burst out laughing. Cormag had already taken the second option.

This was their life on a regular basis. When not fighting, they were far from serious.

_-I think you've forgotten about me!-_

Ah yes, Cormag thought. His faithful companion, The Flame Jewel. Vincent, as was his name in a previous life who was in the same situation as Cormag. he had lost his memory as well. His however, was on the way to returning.

_How could I ever forget about you Vincent? You're my other conscious! There to make sure I follow the rules!_

_-…Rules were meant to be broken. And kid, I daresay you've broken quite a few of them!-_

Cormag laughed. This was how the savior of the three continents wanted life to be.

* * *

_**Two months later…**_

Ike had just finished up one of the first battles he had commanded. Daein had attacked Crimea. Their home. Now a patrol had randomly attacked the people under Ike's command. To make things more inconvenient, they found a green haired woman wandering in the area after the battle. Not that Ike wasn't willing to help whoever she was, it was just slowing them down.

His father, Greil, wanted them to scout out Crimea. Ike had hoped to not encounter anyone in the black Daein armor, but his hopes were dashed. And now, to make things worse, they had stealthily snuck up on a small camp of Daein soldiers.

They didn't seem like Daein soldiers. Only the one who seemed like the leader wore black. It didn't matter how they were dressed to Ike, Daein invaded Crimea. That was enough of a reason to kill any soldier affiliated with Daein. They could even be mercenaries, like him.

His group quietly crept up on them. Titantia, the paladin, had left her horse with the healer Rhys who tended to the unconscious woman they had found. He had her, Shinon, Gatrie and Soren. It was five against the four that sat around the camp fire. They got close enough to hear them speaking. They spoke in another tongue, with accents he had never heard. One thing surprised him more than anything.

They were laughing and joking it seemed. They weren't like the other Daein soldiers, who were cold and hard people. These four had…life. It made it harder for them to kill in Ike's opinion. He saw the leader in black stand up and say, "Fire wood's low. I'll get more." He spoke in Tellian! So he did know more than one language! The man left into the woods. This made it easier for them. Ike nodded to the other mercenaries. They knew the plan. Sneak up as far as possible and strike.

They began to creep up, undetected. All was going well until a knife pressed to Ike's throat.

"Thought we didn't notice, did you? We may not appear it, but we're quite smart," the man in black had crept up behind Ike. He knew where they had been all along. He began to shout a warning to the others, but before he could react, the other Daein warriors stood up. One leapt up with amazing speed and unlimbered the huge blade on his back and pointed it at Soren's neck. The woman drew her dagger and held out her hand to show she was armed with flame. The man with the eye patch flipped his staff in a circle or two and it changed into a blade.

These couldn't be normal Daein soldiers. They were too good.

The man with the huge sword said, "What do you want?" Why would they ask? They're Daein. We're not. That should make it simple.

The man with the knife pressed it harder against Ike's skin, "Answer him. Or we'll annihilate you."

Ike began to form words, "You're Daein soldiers we're…Crimean. Isn't it obvious?"

The dark blonde with the huge sword looked puzzled, "What's…Daein?

The sage with the red hair answered, "It's the big country in the top left of the map Corv."

That caused the man in black to laugh. "Hah, they think we mean them harm!" He sheathed his knife and walked back to his company.

The one with the eye patch looked at the leader, "A war Cormag, it's the only thing. I think this is what Vincent was talking about. This is why we're here." The leader paused for a moment concentrating, then nodded his head and turned back to the people that had begun to attack them.

"Well, let's get things straight. So this Daein has attacked some nation. Judging from your reactions, it was unprovoked and not deserved. Well…this sounds like our kind of party. Will you let us join you?

Wait…what? Ike thought

* * *

It certainly was amusing to see the blue haired kid's expression. He had surprised them. Multiple times. Now for introductions.

"My name is Cormag Ravenstaff, _the_ swordmaster."

The others followed his lead, "My name is Corvus, The Jackal of the Dunes."

"Kay Farran, call me Kay."

"I'm Cynthar."

The soldiers in front of them were lost. Even the intelligent looking one with a mages robes and black hair. One of them even muttered, "Ravenstaff?"

Cormag inwardly laughed. It brought him back to when he got that name…

* * *

_A battle was approaching, bloodshed to come. They had recently acquired a wyvern rider named Cormag unfortunately. It had quickly became confusing. So confusing they had made a bet: whoever could earn himself a name first would win one hundred gold._

_They began the upcoming battle, both with the mind for heroics. They were each good enough at risking their lives. Eventually, the battled continued on for extended periods of time. Cormag the swordmaster had climbed into a tree to get a bit of rest. His ally, Lute had been too distracted to see the enemy approaching her. She turned around in time to see Cormag jump out of the tree and kill the man, injuring his sword hand. _

_For some reason, she saw him as a descending raven. Strange, but he was wearing black after all. He picked up the enemy's spear, not noticing the tip had broken off. A few minutes later, the sage Artur was having trouble fending off other mages. Cormag approached, got ready to throw the spear, then noticed the broken tip. Shit, he had thought to himself. He forgot about the silver blade he still had and ran forward swinging his…stick like a staff. _

_Artur and Lute were close. Lute apparently was the one who came up with Ravenstaff…_

* * *

Cormag brought his attention back to the present. He remembered the map of Tellius he looked at. The color of Daein was black.

Oh.

That's why they attacked. He liked the color black, it was easy to vanish in. He looked himself over. He had the same black cloak he woke up with in Elibe. The blue trim had long since vanished and been repaired in Magvel with more black. His two swords hung at each hip, his worn silver blade and his other blade in which the handle was wrapped in leather. He quickly made sure his hair was still in front of his left eye, and then he looked at his companions.

Corvus still had the while bandage from Elibe on. Cormag wondered what it was, but never questioned. he wore a combination of metal and leather for armor, but more leather than metal. His large sword that was on his back was the same Eliwood gave him more than a year ago. Except in Magvel he found a metal smith who worked the claw of the dragon into the metal. Cormag named his new blade the Saf'Erode. Dragon Claw in the Magvelian common tongue.

Cynthar wore the same eye patch as before. His hair was still silver and he still wore the same blue jacket coat. The only thing different about him was his staff. It had an emerald mounted at the top and it was from a vendor in Magvel. A caster's weapon of choice. A blade that wouldn't melt or break from any element. Not to mention it was a hidden weapon.

Kay Farran insisted on being called Kay. Her father's surname was Farran, and she took pride in that. Her mother had told her he was a true hero. She wore a long black hooded cloak with purple swirls all over it. She had Cynthar's old dagger at her side. She had a deep hue of red hair, it was a fair amount longer than her shoulders.

He refocused again on the people in front of him. He really needed to stop doing that. Oh! The blue haired is talking.

He said, "If you're not Daein, then who are you?"

Corvus chose to be the one to answer, "We're mercenaries from Elibe and Magvel, two distant continents. We arrived here a month ago. If you need help fighting your way through anything, we're the ones to hire."

"We're…mercenaries ourselves though…" the blue haired said nervously.

Either this kid is a nervous wreck always, or something else is bothering him, Cormag concluded. "Ah! Competition! Mercenaries hiring mercenaries! Now that's redundant!" Cormag exclaimed with a grin, "How about I prove to you that we're worth the price. I'll fight you best person among you right now." Ah, competition, this is what Cormag strived for.

The group looked at each other curiously, the blue haired kid walked forward. "I'm Ike, son of the commander of the Greil Mercenaries, I accept your challenge." The kid drew his sword. Cormag drew his beat up chipped silver blade. Ike's eyes widened at the poor condition of the blade. His confidence seemed to heighten.

He began the attack and slammed his sword down, which Cormag blocked. Then Cormag's blade shattered.

Shit. Well, he knew that was coming.

Ike raised his eyebrows in a cocky manner. Cormag just grinned and pulled out his other sword. The one that was bound in leather. He pulled off the leather strip to reveal an elegant sword. Ike actually gasped, it _was_ worth fortunes upon fortunes. In the pommel of the blade, was a jagged gem. Vincent. He twirled the blade in his hands. He had named it The Arbiter. The judge. It was a sword that could change its shape. To any weapon as long it was metal. He had it forged out of the shards of Durandal and the sacred wind sword of Magvel as well as the bit of metal Anna gave him. Saleh helped him forge it.

Ike's confidence had completely diminished. He still charged at Cormag, who flung his sword up and blocked it. They jumped apart. What Cormag did next surprised Ike's entire company.

The Arbiter lit on fire.

It _did _have the shard of Durandal within it.

He knocked Ike's blade away, knocked him to the ground and put the sword to his throat.

"That kid, is good we are."

* * *

**Author Note: That was fun to write! Did you enjoy it? I think this is the best I've ever written. Did you like Kay Farran? I'm going to get more into her relationship with Cynthar next chpt. Then, a few after that that, Mia's here! And since the character of this Fic is Mia, I'm sure you already guessed Cormag and Mia is the pairing I plan to have. A picture of The Arbiter is on my profile! I'll admit, TS was to set characters. PoS is the real story, much better ideas. I've had so much more time to think on it. So mates, give me your hands, and I'll take you on a journey you won't forget!**

**-CR, Reaching full potential**

"**Shaddup. Ya want off, then jump."**

**-Cid Highwind**

**(I mean that. If you want off this fic, leave now)**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own FE9

* * *

Having proved how good they were, Cormag and the rest of the Corvus' mercenaries joined with the Greil mercenaries. They regrouped with the healer Rhys and the green haired woman the Greil mercenaries found.

None of the Greil mercenaries seemed to trust any of the Corvus' mercenaries, which was fine with Cormag. They would eventually come to trust them, after they showed in battle how powerful they were.

When they arrived at the site where the Greil mercenaries had fought the Daein patrol, they found an orange haired healer tending to a green haired woman. She appeared to be alright, merely unconscious. Kay took one look at her and motioned for Cynthar to hand her his staff. It was a healing staff in addition to a weapon, and she was the better healer between the two of them.

She bent down and lifted the emerald topped staff slightly above her head and muttered an incantation. The staff glowed bright green and then stopped. Kay stood up confidently.

The woman with green haired woman stirred. The healer Rhys looked surprised. Cormag guessed he had been trying to wake her for a long time with no success.

"We should go to where ever you mercenaries live. Daein soldiers could be anywhere," Cormag said.

"He's right Ike, we should move quickly," the paladin Titania agreed.

Ike nodded and helped the half-awake woman onto Titania's horse. Everyone then quickly got all the equipment together and left for the mercenary's fortress.

Cormag could feel the black robed mage's eyes boring into his back. Cormag shrugged it off. He didn't care what the strange mage's opinions were.

Instead he took in his surroundings. They had landed from they're ship in a dense port, and soon after entered a thick wood. Apparently vast as well, because they were still in it. Tellius wasn't much like Magvel or Elibe. Both lands had more open spaces and plains. Here, Cormag had only seen forests. He knew not whether or not areas like that existed in other parts of Tellius. Hell, he barely knew the names of the countries. Daein and Crimea were the only ones he could remember.

He saw the blue armored knight talking with Kay. Cynthar didn't look too happy, and neither did Kay, but she was too nice to say anything. Cormag slowed his pace so he could hear the discussion.

"Why, I have never seen such beauty in my life before! Your name was Kay, was it not?" He spoke with a flowery voice much like a certain cavalier from Elibe.

"…Yes, that's what I said earlier," she replied hesitantly, not knowing his intent.

"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful creature!" he said dramatically. "Dame Kay, would you allow me to-" He was cut short by a sword pressed to his back.

"…What were you saying?" Cynthar said coldly, holding his staff sword to the blue knight's back. Kay looked at Cynthar with appreciation.

The knight tried to form words, but Cynthar's appearance naturally looked intimidating even when he wasn't angry.

"What did you say your name was, knight?" Cynthar said.

"Uh…Gatrie."

"Alright Gatrie," he smiled a smile that he only smiled when extremely annoyed, "If you don't want this sword stuck in your back, I suggest you back off before I forget that I've decided not to kill you." Cynthar's one visible eye stared into Gatrie's two eyes until he slowly backed away.

Cynthar turned to Kay with a smile, "I believe we've averted any later interactions with him Kay." Kay smiled and stood closer to him.

Cormag chuckled. Until Cynthar had met Kay, he never knew he could be so protective. They were perfect for each other, protective Cynthar and shy Kay.

The rest of the trip passed in silence. The other mercenaries probably got the wrong impression of them from that interaction.

_-Plenty of time for making amends with them.-_

_Hello Vincent._

_-You did the right thing, going with them. You especially, will come to appreciate it.-_

_What is that supposed to mean?_

_-Now that would be telling.-_

_Elimine Vincent, why do you always have to be so cryptic._

_-It's fun.-_

Cormag sighed in frustration. But this was usual with Vincent. As he said, prophecy was a bitch.

_-Just worry about not dying. Let me worry about the future.-_

The not dying part left a sour taste in his mouth. He had avoided his curse of a life for a life in Magvel, but that didn't stop the penalty for the time in Elibe. If he hadn't been so careless, Matthew would…

Ike interrupted his thoughts with a, "We're here!"

* * *

Cynthar looked over the fortress. It was an apt word, the place looked like an old military base. It had walls taller than Corvus, the tallest among them. It even had a turret in one of the corners.

The blue haired kid Ike led them inside. Cynthar thought about whether to call him a kid or not, he looked close to Cynthar's own age.

They walked inside the main structure where they found more people. Cynthar counted five. He and the others stayed back while the Greil mercenaries marched forward. They began to speak with one another. Cynthar discounted their conversation as unimportant. He closed his eyes and thought back to happier thoughts. Like when he met Kay. Even the basic thought of it made him smile. He felt Kay holding his hand. At this point, there was no way he couldn't think back to the day that changed his life…

* * *

_It had been a hard fight for Cynthar. The Grado soldiers were relentless. But the might of the Frelian army couldn't be ignored. Victory was assured, but casualties were not. Cynthar had been weaving his knife in all directions, hoping to score a hit on any soldier._

_Then he was cornered by three heavily armored knights. He had not openings. He had no choice but to use the wind. He feared it at this point, he knew his wind wouldn't last much longer. He had no choice, he raised his hand and let it loose. The wind crashed into the breastplates of the knights, cutting their breath short. The armor was bent in a way that would kill them slowly._

_His magic had drawn attention. Archers began shooting at him. Caught by surprise, Cynthar launched air blast after air blast where he thought the arrows were coming from. It cost him. As he casted once more while jumping to the side, he felt an unfortunately familiar coldness. His head began to feel light headed. And arrow struck him in the shoulder. It didn't even hurt at this point. Another in foot, it went almost entirely through._

_He drifted between life and death for a time he never learned. Then he saw her._

_At first he thought he had drifted into the land of Elimine. She looked just like an angel. Staff in hand, red hair blowing in the air. He began to fight to stay awake. She began to heal him. Slowly his vision cleared enough so he could see her clearly. She was beautiful. He could hear her serene voice speaking to him. He wasn't able to make out any words, but it comforted him just the same._

* * *

_She was a sage of Grado. At least, that's where she lived for most of her life. Her name was Kay Farran. And she wandered the battlefield looking for those to heal. She abhorred violence, her father's fire tome, Cataclysm growing heavy in the pocket of her cloak. She didn't want to kill, but she was ready to defend herself._

_She didn't agree with the war, but healing was her calling and a war was a place of blood and murder. She had wandered aimlessly for hours, finding a man every other minute who needed her help. Every time she saved a life, she felt overjoyed. She often felt the gratitude of the soldiers she healed. Now they could go back to their families. At least, as long as they didn't die before that, but Kay pretended they all lived._

_She could feel intense wind blowing towards her. She looked up to see five archers preying upon a man who was clearly dead on his feet from tiredness. She grew angry. It was unfair tactics, five against one. She pulled out the ancient tome Cataclysm, and not caring for the consequences to come, let the infernal heat stop the archers. When she finished, the archers were only ash. She couldn't look, she hated war. But that's why she was here, to help put an end to it._

_When she approached the man she felt obligated to save, she was captivated with his looks. His silvery-white hair was red from a gash on his head and he wore an eye patch. He had an arrow in his shoulder, she quickly pulled it out and began to heal him. She could hear him stirring. "It'll be okay…shhhh." She kept up saying that until he began to relax. He never stopped fighting to stay awake. The man was cut and bloody all over and he still had life in him. Never had she seen a more powerful man._

_She healed all of his injuries, but was uncertain how well his foot would heal. His foot had been hit, not his leg, but his foot. He may have a limp. But Kay was confident this man could overcome anything from what she witnessed. She picked him up. He was light! She began to walk to the Frelian side of the struggle._

_Never once letting her eyes leave his._

* * *

Cynthar smiled. It was just like fairy stories. Love at first sight. Cormag had made fun of him for a while, but it didn't last long. Everyone could see they were a good match.

The Greil mercenary's commander, at least Cynthar assumed he was, stepped forward. Cormag stepped forward as well. They didn't say anything for a long time.

Cormag broke the silence, "You're Greil then?"

"And Cormag I presume?" he answered in a challenging way.

"Cormag Ravenstaff actually," Cormag said in an equally challenging way. Elimine Cormag, must you always be this cocky? Cynthar thought.

"Ravenstaff you say? I heard that name from a sailor a few days ago when I was in the port. He spoke of you like a hero."

Cormag raised his eyebrows, "Aptly put. I earned the sailor's respect. All of them actually. I'm too good to just fade away."

"You speak like you're a god."

"Among mortals yes."

"How modest."

"How disregarding."

"Was that a challenge boy?"

"I think I can handle a young upstart like you."

"And I an old man like you."

Greil's eyes twitched with annoyance as he unharnessed his axe. Ike gasped at Cormag's challenge. Cynthar supposed Ike's father was the strongest here, they were the _Greil_ mercenaries after all. But they were in for a surprise.

Cormag drew his sword, The Arbiter. When Cormag had descended from the volcano him and Saleh had forged it in, he had actually gasped. It was a beautiful thing.

Cormag smiled, he waved the sword in front of Greil to get his attention. The Arbiter began to morph into a different blade. Durandal. All of its impressive length as well. Cormag swung it with experience, "Thought I'd give you an advantage old man. Durandal is a lot heavier than The Arbiter."

Greil's response was to leap at Cormag, axe overhead. Cormag held up Durandal to block it. Everyone could feel the blow when it connected. Corvus began to clap from the sidelines.

"I've fought in more battles than your years, old man. I think it's in your best interest to hire us. All we need is room and board."

"And what makes you think kid, that we are doing anything with this war? What makes you think we need help?" Greil grunted, maintaining the contest of strength Cormag had initiated.

"Do you think I'm deaf? I heard all about Princess Elincia over there. She's going to want her kingdom back. And you need us!" Cormag flung Greil backward and he landed on his back. He moved Durandal so that it was pointing at Greil's neck. Cormag hadn't even moved the whole time.

All was quiet.

A horn sounded in the distance.

Daein.

Cormag shifted his sword back to The Arbiter. He turned to Greil, "You want us to prove our prowess? Fine. This is our fight. No interference."

He motioned for Cynthar, Kay and Corvus to follow him. When they got outside, they weren't surprised.

They fortress was surrounded by black armored opponents. They hadn't broken through the great wooden doors. Yet. Cynthar flipped his staff in hand. He heard the familiar noise of his sword shifting. It sounded like a sword being sharpened.

Cormag opened the great wooden doors in the front and bellowed, "SOLDIERS OF DAEIN! I GIVE YOU TWO CHOICES. FIGHT AND WE'LL ANHILATE YOU, OR SURRENDER AND WE'LL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE!" Cormag's voice carried over the troops. Cynthar knew Cormag's plan. He knew they wouldn't surrender, but doubt now had been injected into the patrol of soldiers.

The person who looked to be the leader laughed and yelled, "CHARGE!"

All hell broke loose.

As promised, the Greil mercenaries held back and protected Elincia. Kay had climbed up to the turret and began to launch spells of fire from her Cataclysm tome. Cormag had gone with Corvus out to meet them head on. Cynthar remained back and dealt with any that got through.

All of them were showing off. They knew this battle depended on whether they were hired or not. And as Kay ironically put it, they had to act 'flashy.'

The battle ended quickly with a quick chop from Corvus' sword and the leader's head rolled. All four of them lined up in front of Greil. Cormag did a mock salute and said, "How did we do?"

Greil looked at all of them in turn. "All of you did things I didn't know were possible…except you." He pointed at Cynthar.

Cynthar met his gaze, "My talents lie elsewhere."

"Where?" Of course that was the question. They always wanted to know that. As if he would tell them he was a morph.

"I haven't asked about your wife Greil, you have no right asking into my business." Greil's gaze turned from curious to angry. Kay stepped in between the two of them. Cormag raised an eyebrow. Corvus stayed silent.

"Enough," came a voice. The Princess of Crimea stepped forward.

"Lord Greil, these people are powerful. I need them if we have any hope of going to Gallia."

Greil still looked angry, but she was his superior, as funny as it looked, and he obeyed her.

Cynthar smiled. Crisis averted.

* * *

**Author Note: Well hello! This is my way of making up to you that late update. There will still be another update this week, but next week I'll go into more detail about my summer update schedule. And another thing I forgot to mention last time, I WILL be fiddling with character ages. Mia is what, like nineteen? Well, in here she'll either be twenty two or three. Ike will be twenty one. There won't be any other ones at the moment, but just know that I'll do that. Hope you enjoyed it, review, and vote for the next fic on my profile!**

**-CR, Ta-daaaaaa!**

"**Well, excusssssse me princess!"**

**-Link**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own FE…any of them.

* * *

They left the fortress in a hurry. They were being pursued. They didn't know for sure, but it was common sense. Elincia stood between them and total victory.

The Corvus' Mercenaries had been successfully hired. Now they just had to save the continent.

No pressure, as Vincent put it.

Cormag walked along with the Greil Mercenaries. None of them trusted them yet, except maybe the girl Mist and Rolf the archer. They seemed like the trusting sort.

They made slow progress. The only horses they possessed were Titania's and the squinty eyed cavalier Oscar. They were unprepared.

_-Since when was that a problem? You're always unprepared!-_

_What!? I am not Vincent! Were I unprepared, I would be dead. I can fight and win nearly every fight._

_-Key word nearly.-_

_You seem to be in a bad mood…what's up?_

_-…The sky.-_

_You can be a real bastard sometimes, can't you?_

_-I believed the people I used to know preferred to call me an ass.-_

_They called someone as important as you an ass?_

_-Just 'cause I was the tactician doesn't mean I was royalty. I'm just as human as the prince was.-_

_I doubt they called him an ass…_

_-Right. They called him a reckless bastard. Actually…only me and my wife did that.-_

_Ha!_

_-I wish I could remember her name! Or anything about her! But for some reason, Kay reminds me of her. I don't know by looks, or personality, but it's as if I can sense her through Kay…-_

_Perhaps you should ask Kay about it sometimes. She does know you exist, but you've never spoken to her. You have spoken to Corvus a few times and once to Cynthar. You and I both know Kay wouldn't mind._

_-Yes…but I can't help thinking that something bad would happen. I now the future, but only parts of it. It's around here my foresight fails. Soon, I won't be able to help you.-_

_Vincent, you're the whole reason The Arbiter works like it does. You ARE helping._

_-Meh, by resting on the pommel of your sword.-_

Cormag knew Vincent wouldn't change his mind. In all his years, he still was stubborn. Cormag began to listen into the conversations around him. One completely took his attention.

It was about things called Laguz.

From what he heard according to Shinon, they were brutal savages that could transform into animals. Beasts, birds and dragons. And extremely strong as well.

Animals that could talk and shift forms…this was something entirely new. Magvel may have had monsters, but they were not complicated. Well…not _as_ complicated.

Greil called for combat positions. Cormag turned towards him and Soren, who were discussing things in a quiet manner. Finally, they turned to the group.

"Alright, Soren has come up with a plan. We will divide our forces, one to cause a diversion, the other to assist Elincia in crossing into Gallia. Shinon, Gatrie and I with cause the distraction. The rest of you will go to Gallia while we catch up. Ike, you're in charge."

_-A solid plan…it seems the creepy mage can plan a strategy. I'm sure I'm better. But creepy mage…why does that ring a bell?...-_

The three of them quickly departed so as to get to work as soon as possible. Ike began to take charge of the rest of them. He wasn't very experienced at leading, but Cormag could see he was born for it.

* * *

Corvus still couldn't grasp around the prospect of animal people. He clenched his bandaged hand to try and distract himself. In a way, it did. He remembered Renault healing him and helping him turn from destiny. He said the bandage would come off in its own time. It still hadn't.

It had been over a year since that day. Corvus didn't expect it to stay on that long. But what did he know about magicks and prophecy.

Cynthar and Kay had been chatting in Elibian for a while now, they didn't want the Greil mercenaries to know what they were saying. Corvus didn't blame them, it was a private conversation. So he did his part of glaring at whoever was going to say something. It was pretty fun. He was certain that most of the company found him strange except for the girl Mist. She was a cute kid. She looked to be around seventeen. Damn, Corvus thought, she's almost ten years younger than me…

He heard a twig snap. He pulled his monstrous blade from its harness. There was silence as everyone stared at him. He nodded to Cormag and motioned to where he heard it. Cormag nodded and drew The Arbiter. They made their way to the nearby trees. An arrow shot out and clipped Corvus' shoulder. Cormag jumped into the trees. The sound of a body falling was heard. Cormag emerged while Kay ran to Corvus with Cynthar's staff and healed him.

"We better start running. They've found us Ike."

Ike nodded and signaled for the rest to follow him. Kay quickly finished with Corvus' injury. It hadn't even hurt. Corvus was stronger than he had been before Magvel.

They made it to the river dividing the two countries. Two bridges spanned over the river. Both crawling with Daein soldiers.

"We should stick in these woods as long as we can and surprise the nearer bridge. We can overwhelm them with our numbers," Soren said.

"Good plan Soren," Ike said. By now, everyone was armed except Mist, Rolf and Elincia. Ike told them to stay in the back of the group and stay safe. They crept towards the unsuspecting Daein troops. Corvus tightened his grip on his sword.

"…Now," Soren said in a carrying whisper. They all charged out of the trees at the black armored men. They didn't stand a chance. They were slaughtered before they had a chance to alert their allies. Not that it mattered, fighting wasn't quiet. All the other soldiers had begun to approach them.

Corvus ran to delay them so as to give the others more time. It worked too well, he had finished almost all the soldiers before the rest got there. How did these people become soldiers? he thought, they are terrible!

The commander was no better. Ike and Oscar made quick work of him. Cynthar said he heard screams in the distance. Reinforcements.

They left quickly, not even burying the bodies. The fate of Crimea would not be decided by whether bodies were rotting or not.

* * *

"We need to go after them!"

"We can't endanger the princess, Greil said to go to Gallia."

Ike and Soren had been fighting for a while on what to do. Eventually, they decided to send Mist and Elincia to the royal palace of Gallia. She got very angry with that, but Ike's word was law without the commander there. Cormag could see Cynthar speaking very hurriedly and forcefully to Kay in Magvelian. Neither of them were happy. They were far enough away that Cormag could only hear snippets of conversation.

"…Don't want you to…"

"I…not hurt…"

"Please…for me…"

"We promised…each other forever…"

Cynthar must have wanted her to go with Mist. Ha, she would never leave him, Cormag thought. Those two were practically joined at the hip.

Cynthar seemed to deflate with defeat while Kay rose with triumph.

Cormag laughed, nothing could ever separate them.

* * *

**Author Note: WOAH! That was short. I apologize, for being late and having a short chpt. But those of you who have played PoR know what's coming next. And Mia is in the next chpt! So next one will be long to make up for this one!**

**So…my update schedule. Summer is here, school is done. I will have loads of time to write now. I hope to write many chpts. These first two weeks however, I am learning how to drive, and there will be only one scheduled update. In fact, every Wednesday will still have a new chpt, any others will be bonus ones. After that…I'll either update really frequently or just normally. I hope it's the former! Now I gotta go play FE4!**

**-CR, Mission accomplished**

"**The sun never shines on closed doors."**

**-Unknown**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own FE9, I own Cormag, Corvus, Cynthar, Kay, and all future OCs

* * *

They hadn't found Greil, Shinon or Gatrie yet. And they had been looking for a long time.

"Ike, we should head to Gallia, it may be possible your father is on a separate road to there already," Soren dictated.

Ike sighed, clearly worried, "Right…getting killed won't help us…"

Titania interrupted, "Ike, what about that old fort over there? It was but for a moment, but it seemed like someone moved over there." She pointed to the entrance of the stone building. It looked to fall apart at any moment. Yet, with the possibility they were there, Ike marched right over to the gates of stone.

Cormag brought his hand onto Vincent. _Trap?_

_-Maybe.-_

They all filed into the structure. It was very dark. The mercenaries couldn't see anything.

Footsteps.

They weren't theirs.

"Blades out…battle positions," Corvus said. "They're here. Let's show them once and for all we are a force to be reckoned with."

The sound of footsteps was deafened by the numerous weapons being unsheathed or prepared.

"How the hell am I supposed to read an incantation from my tome like this?" Soren muttered.

Kay looked at him in disbelief. "You mean you don't have any memorized? Not even a simple one word incantation?"

Soren looked at her with distaste, "Of course not. It isn't possible to recite words of magic without the words in front of you."

Kay's response was to snap her fingers, mutter a word, and a ball of flame appeared on her fingers. She wasn't burnt, so it was a proper spell. She smirked in triumph when Soren's jaw dropped.

"They're here! The Crimean dogs, I've found them, over here!" cried a Daein soldier that had stumbled upon them. Corvus hushed him quickly.

His leadership skills took over, "Fan out, but stick together. They know where we are, but we don't know where they are. Be careful, call for help if you have to. GO!" Everyone hastened to obey. It was getting lighter, whether by Daein torches or other means.

Cormag headed down the left hallway to take a position. It was the least defended of the spots they had. He heard a struggle.

_-Go to it.-_

He barely even realized it was Vincent's voice. He had the same thought. He slowly walked forward. As he walked, it got lighter. Torches. Torches meant people. People meant enemies.

When he got to the site of the battle, he saw an orange clad purple haired woman fighting off a big man with an axe. Cormag rushed up and stuck him through the heart, dead instantly. He turned to see if the woman was alright, when she attacked him!

"Thought my guard would be down? Just because he was one of your own doesn't meant I'll be fooled!" He blocked her strike. What did she mean? How could he, Cormag Ravenstaff be mistaken for a Daein?

Cloak.

_Black_ cloak.

Shit.

She jumped backwards and took a position. An amateur's pose. She wasn't very skilled. Could be a ruse. He studied her closely.

Cormag was completely taken by her beauty. She had long, purple hair. Her jerkin was orange and she wore finger less gloves that extended to her lower shoulder, leaving only her shoulders uncovered. She was shorter than Cormag. Her green eyes were arched in anger at Cormag.

Cormag let his sword hang by his side, a ruse performed by the most skilled swordmasters. And it was also because he had never seen a woman with beauty of this caliber.

_-Focus Cormag. Get smitten later.-_

To distract himself, he began a conversation, "So what's a young woman like you doing here?"

Her stance wavered. But only for a moment. "You think I shouldn't be here. Am I too much of a woman for you? Sexist!" She performed a jump strike at Cormag. It was decently performed, but Cormag brought up his blade in time.

"Rule number one miss, don't let you anger control you, use it. It leads to mistakes." Cormag whipped his leg under her leg and tripped her. Her iron sword clattered beside her. Cormag extended a hand to help her up, "Rule number two miss, know your enemies. I'm not one of them."

She stared at him for a long time before jumping up without taking his hand. "So…you're not with Daein?" she said uncertainly.

"Yes, I'm with a man called Ike-"

"Ike! The man who saved me, his son's named Ike!"

Cormag raised his eyebrows, "You met Greil?"

"Yeah! He helped me when I got captured!"

Cormag motioned for her to be quieter, "Captured?"

She looked about to start speaking in her loud tone again, but stopped and whispered, "I was careless, Crimea hired me for support and I got captured. Come to think of it, I'm Mia, a swordmaster!"

"I'm Cormag Ravenstaff, _the _swordmaster. Nice to meet you, and you are not a swordmaster."

"_What!_" She screamed it that time. Cormag mentally punched himself.

"What I mean is…you are not good enough to be a master…yet." He began to fear for his life as he saw her get angrier, "Look, can I find some Daein soldiers to kill to prove it?"

She huffed, but didn't disagree. They crept slowly and silently along the wall. She still looked mad and Cormag was feeling guilty.

_-Smooth Cormag, you meet the first woman you thought was truly beautiful and you piss her off. Smooth.-_

_Shut it!_

Both of them heard voices. They stopped and saw a door ahead. Cormag held a finger up to shush Mia. He crouched and went to the door.

_I have a plan._

_-I think I'm going to like this one.-_

_I need your help._

_-You just want to impress her, don't you?-_

_I'm a man, isn't that what we do?_

Vincent laughed. How does he do that? Cormag threw the door open, exposing a Daein patrol. Heavily armed and actually looking skilled.

_Now._

Cormag let his sword burst into flames. Vincent took his working eye and turned it red. The old hero crafted an illusion which appeared as though Cormag had lit on fire. And for the final touch, he made another to look like red wings extending from Cormag's back.

Cormag spoke in a magicked voice, "_Wretches of Daein! I have judged thee!"_

The nearest soldier gasped in a terrified tone, "What in hell is that?"

"One of the dark god's angels of death!"

_Perfect, something to work with._

Cormag brandished his sword, "_Indeed. The dark god has requested your death! And I am here to deliver it!" _Cormag marched forward and stabbed one man in the gut.

"I-I'm leavin'! No amount o' gold is worth this!" One of the men ran out the door on the opposite side of the room. He was followed by more than half of the rest.

"_I judge you!"_ Cormag leapt in the air and cut one of the heavily armored soldiers in half. He danced around the rest, cutting and slashing with such grace it made his farce believable.

Soon, the floor was covered in blood and bodies were strewn about. Mia cautiously walked inside, clearly nervous. Cormag turned to her, the fire still in his eye. He blinked once and it was gone.

She continued to stare at him. He fidgeted uncomfortably, waiting for her reaction.

"How…how did you do that?"

"Magic," Cormag replied.

"You're a swordmaster!"

"_The _swordmaster. I'm the best with the blade. That is why I said you were not a swordmaster, it is hard to compare you to me…"

"But-but…that was barbaric!"

"War is a cruel tale miss Mia."

"How did you get so powerful? No one as good as you could just be a mercenary! A noble court would have roped you in by now!"

"I'm good with deception. As for how, practice. Practice and two other wars."

"Will you train me?"

"Wait, what? You want ME to train you? Why would you want such a heartless bastard to train you?" Cormag said in disbelief.

"You don't seem heartless…I can see regret for those you killed in your eye. How come you keep one eye covered?"

Both statements sent a chill down Cormag's spine. "Fine, I'll train you…"

Mia tapped her foot patiently, "You didn't answer my other question."

Cormag bit his lip. He hoped to avoid it, but he found he couldn't lie or say no to this woman. "I'll tell you if you promise me that you're not going to tell anyone about this, only Cynthar, Corvus and Kay know."

"Who's Cor-"

"Understood?"

"Yes master," Mia said obediently with a grin. She's already mocking me…

Cormag sheathed his sword and pulled his hair off from his eye exposing his scar. It was a horrible sight, it barely faded in the past year. He saw Mia's grin quickly fall from her face and change to a horrified expression. "What…happened?"

"The deadliest fight I've ever fought. But you see why I covered my eye? Not a pleasing sight to behold. Now let's get out of here." He positioned his hair back how it was. "And please don't call me master, I hate formalities."

She barely nodded, probably feeling guilty herself that she made Cormag do that. No, she didn't make me, I did it of my free will. Why did I do that?

"Cormag…I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago. There wasn't anything you or me could have done. This wasn't the worst part of it…" he trailed off, not focusing on what he was saying.

"What do you mean by that?"

_-Now you've done it.-_

"N-nothing, hey, what's going on over there?" Lucky for Cormag, there was some sort of battle going on ahead. Greil was fighting a paladin with the rest of the mercenaries surrounding them, forming a sort of circle. Then came a roar from the distance.

"Sub-humans! Run!" The Daein soldiers began to panic and run away frightened.

Cormag and Mia quickly caught up with the rest of the company. "What kept you?" Corvus muttered in Magvelian.

"Met a friend," Cormag replied in kind motioning to Mia.

Kay walked over to Mia and began introductions. Cormag still couldn't focus well, Kay's voice and the Laguz's voices interchanged in his mind causing confusion.

_I need sleep._

Kay seemed to have already made friends with Mia. A new record for her, though it was by much. Cormag walked over to Mia, "Mia, we can train in the morning…I'm going to fall over now." And indeed he did.

Into Mia's arms. Asleep.

* * *

**Author Note: TADA! Alright, this is what I hoped for. I'll include Greil's death in the next one. And good news everyone! I went google happy this weekend and found TONS of new pictures. Probably 80% of the pictures of my OCs on my profile have been changed. So go look now! I even found a picture that looked to be an older version of Mia! More with her next chpt! Probably won't be one tomorrow.**

**-CR, Cormag out. Beam me up Scotty!**

"**We may be retreating, but we're still victorious."**

**-Reno, Final Fantasy VII**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own it!

* * *

_He jumped out of the way of Matthew's thrown knife. Cormag refocused and began a mad dash forward towards his victim._

Not again.

_He slashed his silver blade at the thief who jumped aside. Cormag parried his strikes with a frenzied rage. _

It isn't real Cormag.

_Cormag finally scored a hit on Matthew. The cut on Matthew's arm was bleeding rapidly. Cormag no longer had to worry about the left arm._

I didn't mean to…

_Cormag fell over into the sand. He jumped up before Matthew's daggers descended upon him. Cormag knocked one of the knives away. Matthew screamed something at Cormag. Cormag heard it but it didn't register in his mind. Matthew had only one knife in his grasp now._

No…This isn't real…

_Matthew managed to knock Cormag's sword away. A triumphant grin appeared on Matthew's face. He tackled Cormag to the ground. Cormag felt his way to the handle of his knife while he struggled against Matthew._

Stop. Stop! STOP! _STOP!_

_Cormag used all his remaining strength to shove Matthew off. He unsheathed his knife and jumped onto Matthew, aiming for the heart._

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

* * *

Mia always woke up early. If she was to be the best of the best, she needed all the training she could get. There was one problem.

Her new teacher wasn't up yet.

For the last twenty minutes, she debated whether to wake him or not. It wasn't like it was _that_ early!

Okay, the sun wasn't even up yet, but still!

She had already gone and prepared training swords for them, even found a good spot. The fortress they had found after Cormag collapsed had very spacious grounds.

Cormag Ravenstaff…he truly was a legend. She had known him for not even half a day and she could already pick up on that. That thing he did with the fire to scare the soldiers was incredible. She resolved to ask him about when he woke up. He was no ordinary swordmaster, that was for sure.

Thirty minutes…she lost her patience.

They said patience was a virtue. That wasn't true in her opinion. Well…only on the battlefield was it accurate.

She made her way to the room where Cormag was sleeping. They had to be two to a room except for Cormag, he was given the odd room that only had one bed. It was very small with absolutely nothing but a bed.

She approached the old, wooden door. The handle was partially falling off and the wood was splintered. It was an old fortress.

She could her muttering coming through the thin door. Ignoring any sense of privacy, she put her ear to the door.

"No…"

She leaned into the door further. The voice was Cormag's, but very quiet.

"Why him…"

She decided to open the door to hear better. She slowly eased the door open. She stuck her head in, brushing her purple hair out of the way.

She saw Cormag on his bed, asleep. He was shivering and sweating. He mumbled various phrases.

"I didn't meant to…"

"Stop…"

"Why did I…"

"Matthew…"

Cormag began to twitch. It was obvious to Mia that he was having a nightmare. And as his new student, she felt obligated to save him from his plight. She approached him and reached out a hand to steady him, when he jolted upright! He grabbed at his waist, finding a knife and throwing it at the wall. It imbedded the whole length of the knife. Cormag was breathing heavily. He slowly turned to Mia, an unknown look in his eye. His hand began to…was that smoke? His hand was literally smoking. How was that possible?

He suddenly gasped, breathing in air. He put a hand on the wall to steady himself and reached for something with the other. He never found whatever he was grabbing for and fell over.

Mia didn't know whether to laugh or not.

Cormag groaned and sat up. He was definitely awake this time. He looked at her and muttered, "…Mia?"

"Yep! That's me!" she said in her usual energetic tone.

Cormag nodded, then looked puzzled, "What're you doing in my room? You woke me up…that implies you were looking for me…ah, training, right. I collapsed last night, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Mia confirmed.

"That seems to be a habit of mine lately…" He got up, and walked towards his knife in the wall. He took a breath and pulled it out. The wood was old, so it wasn't the hardest thing in the world.

"So, training?" Cormag looked at her with a questioning look. He was back to normal, but she could see it in his eyes, no, eye. He was haunted by whatever he had just experienced.

Her first instinct was to ask him. But she remembered the previous night, where she asked him about his eye. He had an irritated look flash across his face before showing her his eye. She didn't want to anger him, especially not now. It was tactless of her to ask him that, and she was going to try to please him.

"You bet! Hope you didn't think I'd forgotten, did you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he grinned at her.

* * *

"Show me your stance. Stand like I were an incompetent Daein soldiers."

Cormag had made his way to the training ground Mia had set up. Both held training swords in their hands. Cormag had never trained someone before, he had given Cynthar a little help, but it was Kay who helped him the most. She strangely had a vast knowledge of swords. She said her father held a tome in one hand and a sword in the other. Her mother fought staff and sword.

Cormag twirled his sword in his hand to adjust to the weight. It was so damn light!

Mia got into her position. It was a high stance, her sword directly in front of her. An amateur's pose.

"Stop," he commanded.

She looked startled, she wasn't expecting him to stop her. He made his way to her. Cormag got in front of her. "May I?" he asked gesturing to her arms. She nodded her consent. He gently grabbed her arms and positioned them so that they were in front of her left side. "How quick are you? Could you deflect a strike in battle that was headed to the unguarded spot in that stance?" She began to nod her head, when Cormag lashed out at the unprotected side.

To her credit, she managed to almost deflect the strike. "You didn't give me any warning!" she said displeased.

"Neither would an enemy. Let me find you another stance."

He grabbed her arms again, but this time turned them so her sword was parallel with the ground. Then he lashed out again at her. She expected it though. She blocked the strike and countered. Cormag deflected that with ease. He raised an eyebrow, "Not bad, now we can start training." He walked her through a series of strikes. Some she knew, some she didn't and some she had never even heard of, such as the Assassin's Gambit which consisted of a diagonal strike from either the right arm or left to the leg of that side, crippling the foe.

She did her best against him, but whenever she came close to hitting him, he danced out of the way. She had talent.

After an hour or two, Cormag lost track, Mia collapsed, exhausted. She didn't look displeased however. On the contrary, she looked happy, not tired. He sat beside her. "You did well. You could become something if you work hard at it."

She smiled at him, a true smile. "I certainly don't feel it, you're so much better than me!"

"I'm sure I was at your point sometime," he said grinning.

"You say that like you don't know though," she said puzzled.

"I woke up in Elibe, that's where I'm from, about six years ago without any memories. Just this cloak and a sword on my back. The sword came naturally for me. I fought Corvus and defeated him in my first hour of being awake. I must have been a prodigy or something, but I don't remember it," he grinned.

"You don't have any memories! That must be terrible!"

"Perhaps. I didn't even know my name. But Cormag Ravenstaff is who I've become and my other past is of no concern to me."

"Is how you made those flames last night something you remember, or were you able to do that your whole life?"

She seemed itching to ask this question. Cormag's mind raced. He didn't want to get into explaining Vincent. "It is… this rock in the pommel of my sword's power. The Flame Jewel. I simply used the heat to cause a mirage. A controlled mirage. I let you see what I wanted you to see."

"But your voice changed too!" she protested.

"Trade secret."

"Aww, come one, you can tell me!" she begged playfully.

"I'll make you a deal. When you touch me with a sword in our training, I'll tell you," he smiled at her and winked. Cormag laughed when she pouted.

A horn sounded.

It wasn't the Greil mercenary's.

Daein.

Cormag grabbed his sword which he had stabbed into the ground. Mia however, was exhausted. She shakily held her iron sword. "Stay behind me," Cormag implored.

She nodded and they made their way to the gate of the fortress, watching carefully. Twice stray Daein soldiers found them, but Cormag murdered them all. It was his fault Mia was like this. He would protect her with his life!

They got to the gate. The battle raged before them, and they joined the fray.

* * *

It was a town on the Crimea Daein border. Dargor had been sent to quell any resistance that was brewing in nearby villages, and to prove his loyalty to the king of Daein. Could Dargor kill innocents? His answer was yes.

His company of three had gone through three villages so far. Each populated by about one hundred people. Less than the escaped each one.

His company consisted or himself, a blue haired man carrying a trident. Dargor didn't know his name, nor did he care. The other was Dorias, Dargor's second in command.

This was their forth village. Word had probably spread by now. The villagers were either going to be armed or gone. Dargor cared not, so long as there was blood. Blood like his red hair. He licked his lips. He didn't consider himself to get giddy when killing, but he enjoyed the crunch of bones under his gauntlet, the screams as his sword slashed and silence after the battle. He was a predator in truth.

They arrived in the fashion they had before, swords out, and right to the middle of the town. It was quiet. Too quiet. An arrow ripped through the sky from a building. Dargor grabbed Dorias and shoved him into the track of the arrow.

"Show yourself!" Dargor growled, his voice carrying through the village. Footsteps could be heard behind him. He and the blue haired one turned to face a man cloaked in black carrying a black blade.

"I am this village's protector, Shade. Leave and I'll not kill you." He spoke in lofty voice, like water rushing silently down stones. He set down an iron bow beside him a sheathed his sword and pulled out two identical curved knives. He crouched down low, waiting to spring.

"I've been ordered to kill off every village in this area, assassin. You are merely a hurdle in my course. A small one. I will not miss out on a massacre like this!" Dargor brandished his large broadsword and leapt at Shade, his armor clanking. The assassin jumped to the side and began slashing. The blue haired man with the trident could come to only one conclusion.

Only one would make it out tonight.

* * *

**Author Notes: Well! Here we are! First attempt at a cliff hanger. Haha, yeah, it isn't really one. More like practice and a laptop that's going to die. At least I didn't rush! So Dargor…my first OC bad guy. Corvus' OC bad guy. His will probably be the only one to appear in PoS, the other four will appear in the RD fic of this series. Kay's, Cynthar's, Shade's and Vincent's. Yes, Vincent gets one. I have another surprise for Cormag :D**

**Classes…I meant to do this a while ago. Cormag is a Swordmaster. Corvus is a Merc Commander. Cynthar is a Caster. Kay Farran is a Sage (Elibian kind, not the weak FE13 kind). Dargor is a Usurper. Shade is an Assailant. When I change somebody or add a new OC, I'll let you know!**

**Haha! I'm feeling pretty pathetic currently. I'm in the middle of Gunlord's WS for the second read through and I feel utterly incompetent. I think a bit of Henken rubbed off onto me with Dargor. At least…it will in the future ;) And King…read WS. Now. After Huzzah! though. It will take you forever ;)**

**-CR, I'm the doctor!**

"**Kill a man, one is a murderer. Kill a million, a conqueror. Kill them all, a god."**

**-Unknown**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: …Meow.

* * *

Three hours had passed.

Dargor wasn't tired.

Neither was Shade.

Both fought like demons. They each should have died multiple times and run themselves down, but they didn't. They couldn't be human.

Except they were, at least Dargor. That, the blue haired man knew for sure. He had been very watchful through the course of the fight. Twice he dodged out of Shade's thrown knives meant for Dargor. But shade seemed to have an endless supply, for one he threw, he had two more.

At the moment, they both had swords drawn. Dargor, his large broadsword and Shade, a pure black sword. Illusion? Perhaps.

The village was half destroyed. They had taken their fight into several buildings. Each building was destroyed.

Dargor let out a menacing growl, "What…are you?"

Shade paused midstrike, "A remnant of a madman bent on destroying the world. I was his perfect weapon."

Dargor roared and lashed out at Shade who jumped to the side. Shade threw another curved knife at Dargor. His armor deflected it. Dargor rammed his sword where Shade was.

Shade disappeared.

Dargor blinked. He didn't move as he focused on trying to hear anything suspicious. A foot fell to the ground. Dargor jumped to the side, swinging his blade with fury.

Shade chuckled, "Stupid little general. You fail to grasp what I can do. I won't end you now, because I have better things to do. But you've seen what I can do. So you better be watching your back and staying out of the shadows, cause when you least expect it, I'll be there. And you _will_ die." There was a sound Dargor couldn't identify. Then Shade faded into the shadows. Faded wasn't the right word, more like vanished.

Dargor roared with fury. He sheathed his sword and began walking away from the village. The blue haired man followed silently. He knew better than to speak with Dargor in a fury. He made that mistake once and wouldn't do it again.

* * *

"Come on Mia, we'll die out here unless we can meet up with the others."

Mia nodded weakly. She had been fighting for hours now. Cormag looked worse. He had taken the brunt of the attackers. The swordmaster looked like hell, to say the least.

"Watch my left Mia. That's all you need to do." That is what he had told her. That is what she swore to do.

They were still separated from the others. Mia and Cormag were perfect targets. And they were both dead on their feet. Mia could barely hold her sword in her hands. Cormag was better off, but not by much.

"Corm! Mia!" a voice cried out. Mia turned her head to see blazing flames. A red haired woman stood in the middle of them. Kay.

"Kay…?" Cormag muttered. He slashed his sword dropping another Daein soldier.

Kay strode forward to them out of the flames. "Some of the Gallians are here. The Daeins are in disarray. We won!" Mia had a small smile on her face and Cormag grinned.

"Lead the way Kay," Cormag said.

* * *

They had arrived in a moment of tension. The smaller Laguz looked ready to come to blows. As they approached, the larger Laguz attacked Soren. Ike jumped in the way, taking the blow.

Cormag immediately sat down on the ground, not caring at all for what surrounded him. Mia followed his example. Corvus walked over to them, his bandaged arm soaked with blood.

"What's happening Corvus?" Cormag said weakly.

"The Laguz came and scared off the Daein soldiers. Now Soren angered them and it came to blows. Now I think they plan to escort us to Gallia."

"Where's Greil?" Mia questioned.

Corvus frowned, "I don't know. Judging from Ike's mood, he's dead. I haven't seen Mist anywhere either."

Cormag sighed with annoyance. He hadn't known the old man well. But with him gone, Ike was now the leader. Cormag didn't know if that was good or bad.

"Well…then, where's Cynthar?"

If Corvus looked sad before, this was different. MUCH different. He looked distraught now. "When Kay left to find you two…he was attacked…he used too much wind." Corvus didn't need to say anymore. Cormag jumped up suddenly. "He's in the fortress Cormag." Cormag departed at that.

Corvus glanced at Mia, who looked extremely confused. He sighed, seeing no point in hiding it.

"Cynthar isn't an ordinary person. He has a…gift. He can channel the elements? No, let me begin again. He can…command the elements of fire, wind, lightning, and ice. When he uses one too much…damn it! This is hard to explain. Alright, one more time," Corvus sighed in frustration. "He is like a bridge. One of those old rope bridges. Four ropes tied to the edges of two cliffs. When he uses an element too much, a rope breaks and he falls unconscious. When he uses all four up, the bridge falls and he dies. He just used up his wind, he already lost his fire." Corvus thought that was a pretty good explanation. Much like the one Cynthar gave _him_, but it sufficed.

"So," Mia began, Corvus forgot she was there. "He is one step closer to his death now?" Corvus nodded somberly. "So what are we doing here?! Let's go to him! I bet Kay is beating herself up over this!"

That hadn't even occurred to Corvus. Now he saw Mia's point.

* * *

"Come on Cyn…wake up!"

Mia and Corvus entered to see Kay crying beside Cynthar. Cormag was on the other side of the bed, with a stony face.

"It's my fault! I left him! He needed help and I wasn't there!" Kay wailed.

"Kay, it'll be alright. He isn't dead!" Cormag implored.

Kay gave Cormag a death glare. "Yeah, and now he's one step closer to dying and leaving me! He's the one person who truly cares about me now that father is dead and mother disappeared. And I _will not_ accept that!"

Cormag didn't move for a while. But he slowly got up and walked out of the room silently. Corvus muttered something to Cormag in Elibian who nodded. Corvus motioned for Kay to follow him out the door.

"We need to leave her alone for a while," Corvus whispered. "We need to go get ready for our trip to Gallia."

* * *

He watched them leave the building. He had watched their battle. He had heard their argument.

But most of all, he heard their Elibian tongue.

He had caught the name, 'Cynthar.'

Coincidence? Maybe. But perhaps not. The Experiment was always clever, he may not have kept with that name. But he wanted to find him, so he could have kept it that way.

He would follow them. And find out.

He pulled out his violin and began to play. If The Experiment heard the tune, he would recognize it.

Unless he had collapsed on the field for using up the wind.

Then he wouldn't wake up for a while.

Shade had all the time in the world. If he was going to kill Nergal, he needed The Experiment.

* * *

**Author Notes: Technically speaking, this is the second half of the last chpt. So that's why it's shorter. Ha! Logical excuse for a short chpt!**

**Well, not much to say…not at all. That's new…So then, review! How am I doing? Do you like Shade? Did Dargor seem evil enough? Or should I make him more evil like…Khan from Star Trek into Darkness? Please let me know!**

**-CR, Meow**

"**Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe! But, bad news, everyone, 'cause guess who! Ha! Listen, you lot! You're all whizzing about. It's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute, because I! AM! TALKING! Now the question of the hour is, "Who's got the Pandorica?" Answer: I do. Next question: Who's coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me! No plan, no back-up, no weapons worth a damn! Oh, and something else I don't have: Anything to lose! So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceships, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you! And then, AND THEN... do the smart thing: Let somebody else try first."**

**-The Doctor**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing…nothing you hear?! NOTHING!

* * *

He gazed out across the field from his perch on the nearby cliffs. His silver bow was in hand, as well as a knife. He was ready, and by the looks of it, so was the group Cynthar was hopefully in. He watched the green haired cavalier carry a man with white hair on his horse. He watched the blonde haired man with the huge sword scout ahead. He watched the woman with red hair stick close to white haired one. He watched the black haired black clothed one converse with the purple haired woman.

The rest were irrelevant. Those four were the competent ones. Shade had his eyes on them, his gold eyes. A morph he may be, but the eyes were useful. Better than ordinary eyes.

He grabbed his quiver behind him. Nine arrows…how could he be so stupid? So few! Still…it would have to do. He knocked the first one.

Aim.

Fire!

The axe man fell over, an arrow imbedded into his skull.

Damn nice shot, thought Shade. One of his best by far.

His second shot was less lucky. In the shoulder. Third even less, the arm. How did I hit his arm? That's harder to hit than the head!

The fourth was better. The heart. By now, the Daeins had realized something was wrong. They were moving to strike. But not Shade. The Crimeans. It was time to see what these Crimeans were worthy of.

* * *

Cynthar still hadn't woken up after the few days of travel. It had made Kay even more depressed. Cormag hadn't tried to talk to her since she snapped at him. Only Cynthar coming back would help.

Corvus had gone scouting ahead leaving Cormag alone. Alone with Mia at least. She had a smile on her face, as always. Their morning sparring had been cut short by Ike's eagerness to get to Gallia. Cormag normally would have complained about rushing, but he remembered Ike's father was dead. He was trying to distract himself. It's what Cormag would have done. Hell, it's what Cormag _did_ after Matthew…

He jerked his head violently to get the thought out of his head. Not. Going. There.

_-You really need help getting that off your mind, don't you?-_

_It certainly could help. Any suggestions?_

_-Perhaps. You could…talk to Mia, go scouting, think about all the stupidity you have experienced, or-_

_Stupidity I've experienced?_

_-Yeah! Like when you stabbed yourself!-_

…_No. That was an accident!_

_-Didn't make it any less funny. You stabbed yourself while sheathing your sword. It was funny!-_

_Only you would think getting stabbed would be funny!_

_-Well, they called me the tactician of insanity, I was friends with a psychopath and I burned armies with my fire magic. All the books claim I went insane near the end of that war.-_

_Is it true?_

_-Maybe. I never can remember the details. There was a book in Anna's shop that lay open in front of me. I couldn't turn the pages and the pages didn't have many words on them. Mainly pictures.-_

_Pictures?_

_-Heh, yeah. Two of me. One of me lit on fire and the other at my command table with figurines of all my forces.-_

…_lit on fire?_

_-Fire is fun.-_

_Insane._

_-See! That's where they must have got it from!-_

Cormag chuckled and shook his head. All of Vincent's ramblings were like this. Short, complicated and insane. It would help if the man could remember anything at all. But the fact that he remembered that he was friends with a psychopath made it clear his memories were returning.

_-That's right! I did remember that! Huh…maybe soon it'll all come back…-_

Cormag shrugged his shoulders. Mentally of course. In Magvel once in a while he would talk aloud or laugh aloud in his conversations with Vincent. So much that Ephraim thought he was mad since he usually was nearby. That man was everywhere at all times. He was a true leader.

_-Hey! Pay attention to me!-_

_Huh!? What?_

_-Can I borrow your eyes?-_

…_sure?_

_-Thanks. Now look at Ike.-_

Cormag's eye flashed red. He tried to be inconspicuous while he looked at Ike.

_-Hmm…I feel as if I met one of his dependents…but that's impossible! I'm from the past!...Unless…time travel? No, doesn't exist! Maybe-_

Cormag regained control of his senses and saw everyone with their weapons drawn. Oops. He quickly drew his sword and paid Vincent no mind.

"Everyone!" shouted Ike, "There is a fortress a short distance away! We need to seize it! Daein troops are crawling over the land. Now they've found us and we need to fight!"

His speeches need work. But I'm not one to judge, am I?

* * *

It couldn't have been he who alerted their presence, could it?

Corvus was running, fast. He couldn't find the Crimeans or his company. He slew many Daein soldiers, but more took their places.

He saw arrows shooting from the cliffs, one by one, all hitting their mark.

No one in the Greil Mercenaries was that good, now that Shinon left with Gatrie.

Who was it?

* * *

Bam! Cormag was shoved up against a wall, sword up against another sword. The Daein was strong. Stronger than most. But not as skilled.

Cormag ducked and rolled out of the way and whipped his blade back, willing it to extend a length. It worked, the Daein was now a bloody mess on the ground.

"Freeze!"

Cormag looked left. Three archers were standing there, bows drawn. Damn my eye!

Cormag took a defensive position. He closed his eye waited for the arrows. He heard the _twang! _of the bow string.

Nothing happened.

He opened his eye to see a man standing in front of him, with three arrows sticking out of him. The man groaned and shakily made his way to the wall to lean on. Cormag wasted no time and leapt into action, killing the three archers easily. He turned around to thank his savior, but no one was there!

Cormag walked around looking, but the trail of blood stopped where the man had leaned on the wall, as if he disappeared!

* * *

"Damn…vulnerary. Need…vulnerary…" he had appeared back near his equipment. As a morph, he had a higher resistance to pain than others. But getting shot with three arrows hurt to _anybody._ He searched through his pack looking for a vulnerary. In the meantime, he ripped out two of the arrows in him. "Vulnerary…vulnerary? No! Elixer! Better!" He swallowed the whole potion and ripped out the third arrow. He didn't have any energy to disappear to a safer place after that whole affair. He fell unconscious.

* * *

**Author Note: I like ending with someone falling unconscious. I don't know why, but I do. So! Onto more important things! First off, I'm leaving town and going to a NO WIFI ZONE. So Ging and King, I won't be able to beta anything. Just sit tight and I'll get to it Monday. Man…I'll have sooooo many notifications on my email… Oh! And you'll get a bonus chpt or two to make up for this one's length!**

**Hey! New poll on my profile! Who do you want Shade to be paired with? Probably won't happen in this fic, but will in the second! So vote!**

**Also…Guest reviewer…don't think I forgot about you… I HATE anonymous reviewers! So stupid person…I don't care who you are, but never. Review. As. A. guest. Again. And no, I won't answer your question, 'cause YOUR TOO DAMN LAZY TO READ TS! And for everyone else, all guest reviews will be DELETED! I don't care, all shall perish!**

**Alright…I really hate anonymous reviews.**

**-CR**

"**Mates! It's time to get dangerous!"**

**-Vo Spader, Pendragon**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I think you now get the point.

The castle Gallia was a spectacular site to see. Never had Cormag seen a nation so attuned to nature. Vines and trees were growing in and out of the castle.

Cormag had gone straight to his assigned room which he shared with Corvus. Ike, the princess and the Laguz went to meet with the king. Everyone else were merely everyday soldiers, they weren't able to listen in on every conversation.

Cormag hadn't found the man who took those three arrows for him. It bothered him. But realistically, the man was probably already dead. Not many people could survive three arrows.

Unless you were immortal.

But that wasn't very common, was it?

_-You need to stop making bad jokes.-_

_Shut it._

* * *

They were on their way to Bengion. By boat.

Boats mean water.

Water means ocean.

Cormag was pleased.

Of course, they still had to journey across Gallia to get to the coast. Not so much fun.

To top things off, Cynthar still hadn't woken up. This was longer than the time in Elibe. He had said that it would get longer each time. Kay was still by Cynthar. Cormag had no idea what Corvus was doing actually.

Cormag was with Mia. Training, what else? She was a fast learner. Already Cormag was coming close to being hit by her sword in their practice duels. Even though she failed many times, she never was disappointed. She'd always say things like 'Just wait 'til next time!' or 'You were lucky!'

Cormag looked forward to their spars each morning. Mia ended up waking him each morning, he had trouble waking up. Sometimes he wished he were more like Corvus. The Jackal could always wake up early. In Nabata his whole tribe woke up early before it got too hot.

Cormag had no idea if the progress Mia was making was normal. He had never taught anyone before and didn't remember his own past experiences. Mia said he was doing well, and that was good enough for him.

It would only be a matter of time before she could beat him.

* * *

Ike and the Laguz Ranulf had decided on attacking a prison camp to rescue Crimean soldiers. It was a fortress much like the one she had met Cormag in. Mia rested her hand on her sword eagerly awaiting the oncoming fight. What had Cormag told her? 'The best practice is on the battlefield.' It was logic no one could deny.

She was many times better than she used to be. Cormag was right in the fact she wasn't a swordmaster, not yet at least. She was getting there, she saw it in Cormag's body language when they fought. He'd have a flicker of surprise pass over him when she grasped something quicker than he thought she would. It happened quite often.

It helped that she found his one weakness. He couldn't see out his left eye. He was perfectly capable of guarding his left, but it wasn't nearly up to par with his right side. It was the one advantage she had over him.

Ike signaled for the small army to enter the castle, led by a shifty character Ike hired to break out the prisoners. Mia stayed close to Cormag, specifically to his left. Corvus was on his right, massive sword in hand.

They made their way into the dark castle. It was very hard to see anything, but Mia could hear Daein footsteps all around her. Ike's forces had stayed mostly quiet, not attracting any unwanted attention. Then there was a scream.

And the sound of a body hitting the floor.

There was a flurry of motion around her. People running in disarray. Was it a Daein body that hit the floor? Or was it one of theirs?

"C'mon Mia, we need to move!" shouted Cormag. No use being quiet anymore, swords were clanging, axes smashing and lances stabbing amidst the screams. The best word to describe it was chaos.

Cormag, Corvus and Mia fumbled around in the dark until Cormag lit his sword on fire. The enemy's response to that was to shoot an arrow at him. He avoided it, barely.

They came upon a hallway. A dark hallway. Corvus ran in front of it, avoiding the arrows and javelins. He was on one side while Cormag and Mia were on the other side. Corvus motioned for them to be quiet. Mia strained her ears to listen for the slightest noise.

Was that a footstep?

Her thought was validated by Corvus leaping from his hiding place and decapitating the foe. Good thing its dark in here, Mia thought. She did not want to see that. Cormag was the next to leap into action, then she jumped in too. It was impossible to tell how many there were. But there were many.

Relying on Cormag's sword for light, she struck down every foe that attacked her. The majority had attacked Cormag. Corvus was up front more, fighting in the dark. His senses must be good, Mia thought. How else could he fight in the dark and be _winning_?

"MIA! DUCK!" Cormag screamed. Mia turned to look at Cormag, not seeing the archer aiming for her. There was a _twang!_ and the sound of someone quickly moving.

Then a scream.

It wasn't Mia's.

And it wasn't the archer's.

Cormag had jumped and taken the arrow for her. Corvus, his eyes guided by Cormag's flaming sword, gave a cry of rage and began butchering the Daeins without mercy. Mia had dropped her sword and bent over Cormag's body, checking for signs of life. A spearman made a running charge for her. She reached down and grabbed for her sword. Her hand found The Arbiter. She slashed at the man in a furious rage. The Arbiter cleaved the spear in two. Both the Daein and Mia hesitated in shock. Then Mia regained her senses and stabbed the man.

_-Not bad kid.-_

Mia visibly flinched. _Who said that?_ She had better things to worry about. She ran to Cormag's body. She promptly dropped The Arbiter and felt for a pulse on Cormag's hand.

No pulse.

She tried his neck. Please oh please oh please o-

No pulse.

She listened at his mouth for breathing and watched his chest to see if it would move.

She heard him breathing.

"Yes!" she cried out in joy. Now she needed that priest with the orange hair, Rhys? "Come on Cormag, hang on, help's on the way!" She lied about the last part of course.

Cormag's voice rasped, "Don't lie Mia…I'm…done. See you…in a few…" Cormag's head rolled back, lifeless.

"No…_No…NO!_" Mia screamed.

* * *

It had been a while since he had seen this chamber.

_Hello nameless. Been awhile, hasn't it?_

"Tell me now, was Matthew's death your doing?"

_Hmm, well, you're the one who stabbed him._

"Because you've cursed me! I never asked to be immortal!"

_Deal with it. I need someone to save the three continents. What's a few lives between millions?_

"You're insane…"

_No, Vincent is the insane one. He was another's doing, not mine though…_

"Who's it going to be this time?"

_That would spoil the surprise._

"Surprise?!"

_Don't worry, it isn't your precious Mia…you should be more careful, it could be her next time._

"Just who are you to make decisions like this?!"

_I'm a goddess. I could destroy you easily. _

"But you won't because you need me."

_Precisely._

"Get me out of here. I never want to speak to you again."

_I think you'll be disappointed of that. You will see me again, like it or not. But I suppose it is time for you to get up._

* * *

Mia was crying silently with Cormag's body in her arms. There was so much she wanted to tell him. So much she wanted to do with her friend. Now he lay…dead in her arms.

_-Put me in his hand. There may be something I can do.-_

That voice again. Where was it coming from? Mia wiped her tears away and looked around the small area she was in. It was just her, Corvus had yet to come and Cormag's sword. No!...could it be? She picked up Cormag's sword.

_-Good, you figured it out. Now put me in his hand. I may be able to bring him back.-_

A talking sword. She was too freaked out and sad to question anything. If that voice thought it could help, she was all for it. She took Cormag's hand and clasped The Arbiter with it. The red stone on the pommel glowed.

For a few terrible seconds, nothing happened.

Then Cormag coughed several times. "_Cormag!" _Mia cried with joy. She hugged him without thinking. Mia held him tight, determined not to let go. She then realized what she was doing and promptly let go blushing. Cormag was too disoriented to see her blushing.

"Ugh…fortress…right. Prisoners…Mia? Did we win?" Cormag questioned her.

Mia had something else on her mind other than the question if they won. "Never do that again! I was so worried about you!"

Cormag looked extremely guilty. "I had to protect you…that's my job as your teacher, right?" The last part was a lie. He wasn't going to admit his feelings for her. He wasn't _that_ brave.

Mia hugged him again, not nearly as tight, "Still…I was worried about you Cormag." Cormag returned the hug and smiled, letting the moment distract him from the impending doom of one of his comrades.

* * *

Shade woke up groggy. His internal clock told him he had been sleeping for a long time. His injuries were all healed. It was to be expected, Morphs healed fast. He blinked his gold eyes before remembering what he was going to do.

Stupid! He was probably days behind them! How was he to catch up!? But he was the fastest traveler there was. He could get from Gallia to Daein in one day if it was very cloudy. Two if it wasn't. his name was Shade for a reason.

He hastily picked up all his weapons and gear and prepared to find them. He focused on the bottom of the cliff and traveled through the shadows and disappeared.

* * *

**Author Note: Well, I'm in a no wifi zone writing this days before you'll read this. Fun fun! Not much to say, but Ging, does that count as more Cormag Mia moments? ;)**

**And guest reviewer, Owaign or whatever you called yourself, you raise valid points. Yes, character development is something that I could do better. But about that last point, no one wants to read a fic where the writer just makes him(or her)self feel good. Here is where our opinions diverge. 'Cause I don't give a damn what readers think. I'm writing this for me and me alone. Ging, King and CCM are just reasons to update faster. And I can logically guess that you didn't read TS, which makes characters shaky for you. I'm not a person who will make every sequel with introductory parts. I hate that stuff. I have ten or so core readers who give a damn and let me know and about twenty others who just read without reviews. That's all I'll ever need. You probably won't read this, since you're a guest. I will delete your review, CCM has rubbed off on me there. If you want to have a discussion, leave me a LEGIT review with a name.**

**Damn, I hate guest reviews. At least have the courage to let me know who you are!**

**-CR**

"**Princess! I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story. I'm the leading man! And do you know what they say about the leading man? He never dies!"**

**-Balthier, Final Fantasy XII**

**(I thought this was appropriate :D)**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: CAW CAW!

**Alrighty. Just a little thing. Well, two little things. #1! This port village in this chpt. I'll assume you know what I'm talking about, 'cause I don't know crap about FE9, hafta do 9 before 10. ANYWAY! This village, much bigger than portrayed in the game. That's all for that one.**

**#2! Well, that guest reviewer got me thinking. I disagreed with him(or her) about several points, they brought a crucial aspect up. Well…one and a half. First, I will now establish character better, like how they would each react in different situations. And second, all my OCs have been overpowered (in this fic) They are all like FE7/8 level20, they don't just decrease in level, that doesn't make sense. So that's my reason for that, BUT! But, Cormag will remain the same as before. The others (Corvus, Cynthar, Kay and soon Shade) will all be less powerful. Cormag's blessed by a goddess, what else can you expect?**

**Sorry for wasting time, but I'm bored in a car so hopefully this chpt will be good. Oh! Thoughts are back to **_**italics**_** by the way. Too hard for me the other way.**

* * *

Mia looked upon the vast span of port Toha. The port city was what you'd expect to see in Crimea. Large merchant vessels arriving and leaving at the same time, buildings big and small, the streets bustling with civilians. Merchants setting up shop for the day all along the alleys and a cloudless, beautiful morning.

Their entire force had arrived to board a ship to Begnion. By seeking Begnion's aid, the princess of Crimea hoped to reclaim her country. Mia hoped she would succeed, Crimea was in disarray under Daein rule.

Ike had let the company free for three hours for their own devices. Well, everyone except Soren, Titania and the Laguz.

Cormag, Corvus, and Kay had all gone out to celebrate the return of Cynthar. Just this morning he woke up by throwing a knife at a wall. Either he had rubbed off on Cormag, or the other way around. It made Mia laugh.

Mia wandered the streets, looking at shops or talking with the villagers. She had declined Cormag's offer to join them. They were like a family, and Mia felt it wrong to intrude on their celebration. So she made it her goal to see everything to pass the time. She had three hours, what else was there to do?

The swordswoman had just finished examining an armory. Not a very high quality armory, but an armory none the less. She walked for about another minute more before coming upon a noisy tavern. Curious, she ventured inside.

It wasn't crowded, but there was a drinking contest going on. Mia was startled to see Corvus and Cynthar glaring at each other, mugs of ale in hand. Kay was cheering on Cynthar and Cormag cheering on Corvus. Mia wouldn't have expected anything less than that though. The majority of the tavern was cheering on Corvus rather than Cynthar.

They each had a large number of mugs surrounding them. Even the bartender was up front watching. Mia seemed to have come upon them in the later stages of the contest. Cormag caught her eye and grinned at her like this was an everyday occurrence. Perhaps it was, she didn't know much about Cynthar and Corvus. Maybe they always were like this.

She didn't have much of a choice except to pull up a chair at the table. Cormag motioned for the people around her to move aside so she could sit down. Mia leaned over to Cormag, "Does this happen all the time with you guys?"

Cormag laughed, "Yes and no. Usually it's me and Corvus, but Cynthar wanted to 'wake up' after being out so long."

Mia chuckled, "I bet Kay wasn't happy about that!"

"Of course not. You can imagine her, 'You just woke up from a death like coma after nearly dying and you want to drink yourself to drown!?'" Cormag grinned.

Mia laughed again. Kay meant well. Cynthar had scared her when he collapsed. She was just worried for him. Never had Mia seen a couple that close before, it was a wonder they weren't married yet. Maybe they were, another thing she hoped to learn.

Corvus and Cynthar were still at it. Both showed no sign of giving up. Cormag bent over to Mia, "It's in Corvus' nature to not give in. Not even when he's outnumbered seven to one would he give up."

Mia raised her eyebrows, "Seven to one?"

Cormag chuckled, "Only 'til I saved his skin. Back in Magvel we all watched out for each other closely. Magvel was a harder fight than Elibe physically and emotionally." Cormag lost a little of his cheer with that statement so Mia decided not to press it.

The cheering was picking up, Cynthar had just jumped up from his seat. It was common knowledge that these types of competitions picked up when contestants stood up. Standing helped them stay awake and become more sober than sitting. Corvus soon joined him standing, both grinning like idiots. Mia turned to Cormag, and nearly shouting, "How many are they at?"

Cormag seemed to think for a moment, "I have no idea! I lost count after ten!"

"There's no way they can be awake still!" Mia protested amazed.

"Mia, we're not your average band of mercenaries. But even so…I don't know how they're still at it!" Cormag was now standing like everyone else, cheering on Corvus. Mia stood as well.

Everyone gasped when Corvus staggered backward, and fell over in a chair, losing consciousness. Nearly everyone fell silent. Cynthar raised his arms in a victorious pose, "Wins to the eye patch kid!"

The whole tavern erupted with cheers and clapping. Cynthar sat down in his chair slowly. He looked amazed that he won. Kay grasped his hand when he sat down. Cynthar handed her his staff. She walked over to Corvus and muttered an incantation. Apparently, the staff was a restore staff as well as healing, because Corvus woke up after a few seconds. Kay then went back to Cynthar and did the same. Both were awake, Corvus offered his hand to shake Cynthar's, "Good match mate, I'm sure I'll do better next time." Cynthar nodded. Grinning, he grasped Corvus' arm.

A few minutes later, the barman brought free food for them. "You drew more attention than I get in a day, thank you." Their conversation turned to what a typical mercenary would speak about: their pay.

"Soren doesn't pay us shit, thank the gods we just got free food. All of our wages were on those drinks!" Corvus complained. Kay nodded in agreement.

"But didn't you earn lots of money in Magvel and Elibe?" Mia said puzzled.

"Yeah, but we couldn't bring it with. Separate currencies between continents, we left our gold with select people under the condition they help us should we ever find our way there again," Cormag answered.

"It's a pity Soren doesn't recognize our worth," Kay muttered, "We do more than most of Ike's units and we still are not paid our worth."

"We should rob 'I'm," the Nabatan said, "He wouldn't see it coming. It's a shame Matthew isn't still here to do it."

The whole table fell silent to Mia's puzzlement. Kay looked at her feet, Cynthar closed his eye as if he was annoyed with Corvus. Corvus looked extremely mad with himself that he said what he said. Cormag was a different matter entirely: he became as stiff as a board and had no expression on his face. He slowly got up without a word and walked out.

"Dammit!" Corvus cursed.

Mia looked around confused, "What just happened?"

Corvus took it upon himself to answer, "Well, our mate Cormag, he had a friend named Matthew. He was a spy for a country in Elibe. He was also a thief, but that doesn't matter. So anyway, he comes with us to Magvel, and becomes the fourth member of our company. We met Kay soon after, but again, beside the point. At the battle of the Desert Winds, where we fought our hardest battle yet against Grado generals of an unquestionable caliber, Matthew was killed. Cormag took it hardest of all of us, he knew Matthew the longest."

Mia still was confused, "I don't see what that has to do with what just happened, he shouldn't have reacted like that."

Corvus was about to begin again, but Kay interrupted, "That, is a story for Cormag to tell you. It isn't our place to explain it."

Mia looked at each person at the table hoping for a reaction. Kay had a hard expression, Corvus was still blaming himself and Cynthar had a neutral expression. _I bet he makes a good card player. _

* * *

Cormag softly walked through the alleyways of port Toha. He needed to get out of that tavern before Mia asked him the questions she had been forming in her mind. She had every right to ask, how was she supposed to know?

_Matthew…_

Amidst his thoughts, Cormag blindly bumped into a man who was walking the opposite direction. The man was cloaked completely in a brown cloak. His face was visible however. Cormag was halfway through his apology when he looked into the eyes of the man. The _gold_ eyes of the man. "Impossible!...How are you alive?"

The man pushed past Cormag and resumed his walking. Cormag turned on the spot and followed the man. He grabbed him on the shoulder. To Cormag's surprise, the man's cloak fell off his shoulders. Cormag was now looking at a black haired man of the same height as himself. Gold eyes and black hair, now Cormag knew for sure he was dealing with a morph. The question at the forefront of his mind was, how was this morph alive? All but Cynthar perished when Cormag struck the final blow upon Nergal.

Cormag looked the man over, he was clothed in black, like the assassin Jaffar. He had knives strapped to his body all over. Not a person anyone wanted to mess with. Already civilians were walking around them at a fair distance. The morph then turned his back and took off running!

Cormag hesitated for a moment and ran after him. He didn't have to worry about people while the morph did. Cormag ran behind him, all the people were out of the way already. Cormag unsheathed his sword. Under normal circumstances, running down a people filled street with a sword drawn was a bad idea, but Cormag was known for reckless ideas.

Cormag was gaining on the morph. Never had he needed to run this fast before, the morph was far more agile than he was. Cormag figured that he could keep this pace for about a minute more and still have the energy to fight. Anymore and he wouldn't bet on victory against the morph.

They came to a town square. The morph ran just as fast, pushing people over on occasion. Cormag was beginning to feel the strain on his muscles. He started to tire. He had one more plan to catch the morph. As the morph crossed into a narrower alley, Cormag put on a burst of speed and tackled the morph!

The morph took a good look at his attacker, then exclaimed, "You! You're the one with The Experiment!"

That was enough to cause Cormag to lower his guard. If the morph had meant harm, he would have attacked there, but the morph was just as surprised as Cormag was. "Who are you? And how are you alive after we killed Nergal?"

The morph had a sharp intake of breath, "Nergal is dead? Impossible! No one can kill him!" The morph still had his majestic tone of voice even in disbelief.

"Yeah, I killed him. And one of his pet dragons was killed by a friend of mine. You haven't answered my question yet, who are you?" Cormag commanded.

The morph shoved Cormag off of him. He brushed the dust off, "I am Shade, one of two morphs remaining. Now, my turn, a Cynthar is with you. Does he have an eye patch?"

Cormag knew the name, but he couldn't place it. He examined Shade carefully, from the black sword at his belt to the violin at his back. How he managed to carry it running, was a mystery to Cormag. "Yes…he does."

Shade grinned, "_Finally!_ Damn long wait! Take me to him. I know you have no reason to trust me, but one look from Cynthar will prove my story. You know I speak the truth anyway, I can see it in your eyes, but your damn paranoia will cause you to doubt me. So take me now!" Shade seemed desperate. Cormag had no idea how the morph read him so easily, and he was completely right, he _did_ seem trustworthy.

"I'll tell you what Shade, you come with me on the boat me and Cynthar are going on. That will be the fastest way to get you to him. If he doesn't believe you, I'll kill you myself. Deal?" Cormag raised his eyebrows in expectance. Shade stood still for a little, then his hand whipped into his belt. He pulled out an elegant curved knife and threw it! It flew over Cormag's shoulder and someone groaned and a body hit the floor.

Cormag turned around to see a dead Daein soldier lying at Cormag's feet. Cormag met Shade's eyes, they understood battle. They both seemingly fought Daein. This is where they could work close together. "You watch my back, I've got yours," Shade offered.

"Deal."

They both took deep breaths. Shade unsheathed his black sword and Cormag readied The Arbiter. "I can guide us to the ship, but I need you to fight to your last breath, agreed?"

"Only if you do the same and take me to Cynthar."

"Done."

They took another deep breath, and then bolted out of the alley. As expected, Daein soldiers were crawling over the cityscape. Shade and Cormag avoided attention for about twenty seconds. One of the archers yelled, "Over there!" When they heard that, they began to run.

"After them! Don't let the Crimeans escape!"

Cormag cursed aloud. This wasn't good. They certainly had gained a lot more attention than they would have liked. He looked around wildly. Three streets splintered off from the one they were on. Shade called out, "Left! The harbor is to the left!"

Cormag had nothing else to go on, he made a sharp left. They emerged by five Daein spearmen. Shade swore in Elibian and cut down two of them. Cormag stayed silent as he stabbed one of them in the back. The other two jumped in fright, not attacking. "The harbor is just ahead, I hope you know what damn boat you're going to!"

Unfortunately, Cormag didn't know where he was going. Hopefully there would be a familiar face. They arrived on the stone flat area before the ships. Four large vessels stood before them. None had any flags identifying which ship was theirs. Cormag turned around and held his sword ready at the fifty oncoming Daein soldiers. Shade swore violently and drew two curved knives. They prepared for the worst.

"CORMAG!"

Cormag looked to his right to see Mia waving at him furiously from the furthest boat. "Shade! This way, hurry!" The boat Mia was beginning to move away from the dock.

Shade saw Mia waving and began to run with Cormag to the boat. The Daeins began to throw javelins and shoot arrows. They were too far away and the majority missed, but one arrow hit Cormag's shoulder. Shade, with his superior agility and strength leapt up onto the deck of the boat. Cormag began to slow down due to his wound. The soldiers were gaining on him. Shade held his hand out his hand. Cormag had one chance. He put on a burst of speed, jumped, and grabbed for his hand.

He missed.

Cormag came crashing down to the ground, defeated. His shoulder was bleeding worse than before, he landed on it. He tried to get up, but the pain was too great, he collapsed. His vision began to fade to black. He was finished.

_-Like hell you are!-_

Cormag felt someone's mind with his in his head. He felt himself get up off the ground and begin to run. His vision hadn't faded enough to stop him from seeing his goal: Shade's still outstretched hand. He had a second chance. He picked up his speed and jumped again. He felt Shade's hand grasping his! He was pulled up quickly. He began to lose consciousness.

_-Do better next time.-_

* * *

**Author Note: Well, how did I do? I spent quite a bit of time on this one, is it better than my other chpts? If I get one positive review, I'll write more or all of my chpts at this caliber. Yeah, only one, that's how low I've sunk ;)**

**Hoorah! Another ending of losing consciousness! Poor Cormag. Not much opportunity to less power the other OCs. Shade is a morph so of course he's stronger than normal people. So review, vote about Shade's future pairing, and…well…have a good day!**

**-CR**

"**Love Guide Rule #2, Erky: Confident is how you attract 'em. Mysterious is how you hold 'em. Caring is how you keep 'em."**

**-Serra, Still Ongoing (Sardonic Kender Smile)**

**(Gotta love Kender's work!)**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Wow! Chpt 10 already! I only own my six OCs (C,C,C,K,V,S)

* * *

"I have no reason to trust him."

"You had no reason to trust us."

"I don't."

"Bah. I vouch for him."

"I just said I don't trust you, you vouching for him isn't worth a damn."

Cynthar glared at Soren with an icy hate. The mage thought Shade was a Daein spy. It was up to Cynthar to change his opinion.

"He wouldn't betray us."

"No one can know that."

"He wouldn't betray _me."_

"Why."

"I'm his brother," Cynthar lied, his streetface up not giving it away.

"Is that so…you two look nothing alike."

"He takes after father, I take after mother. Happy?"

"Not remotely."

"Deal with it."

Soren had walked away after that. Cynthar grinned triumphantly at his success.

* * *

_One month later…_

* * *

Cormag slashed his sword with an upward arc. Mia blocked it, and countered with a jab to the legs. Cormag jumped up and slashed at her neck, with the flat of his blade to be safe. Luckily, she deflected once again.

The voyage had been going on for nearly a month. A very uneventful trip, though the weather was good and so was the food.

Mia went back on the offensive. She rained a number of strikes at Cormag, followed by a stab to Cormag's gut. Cormag sidestepped and launched himself at her, executing a jumpstrike.

Shade had been fitting in well. He appeared to have attracted Volke's attention. The two had a knife fight in secret. No one knew who won, but it was rumored Shade had.

Mia rolled to the side. Cormag's sword lodged into the deck of the ship. He struggled for a brief second to withdraw it from the wood. It gave Mia time to go on the counter offensive. She twirled her silver sword she 'acquired' from a Daein corpse. She went at Cormag with a low stance, aiming for the legs.

During the first days of the trip, they discovered a stowaway. Some green haired kid named Sothe. Ike had let him join the company. The kid was a thief though. Corvus had a saying for when you couldn't find Sothe, 'Count your gold.'

Cormag actually jumped over his sword to avoid her. She followed up unfazed with a slash to the shoulders. Cormag had dislodged his sword by now. In a matter of seconds, they were evenly matched again. Their swords met with sparks as metal struck metal. Mia's speed had surprised Cormag. She was nearly as fast him, though not as powerful. She still had not landed a single touch upon Cormag.

Cynthar had been overjoyed that he had found Shade. Or rather, Shade found _him._ Most of the voyage for him and Kay was catching up with Shade. Kay wished to get to know Shade as well, and Cynthar could hardly deny her anything. They weren't married, but they planned to wed the moment the war ended.

Cormag's and Mia's strikes picked up speed. They both knew the conclusion of the fight was approaching. And Mia desperately wanted to win. Mia aimed a kick at Cormag and was delighted to hear her foot collide with his stomach. He fell to the deck with a groan. Mia dashed to where he landed and struck at him. He rolled to the side and began to get up. Mia descended upon him, ready to end the duel. Cormag stuck out a leg and tripped her. As she fell, she threw out her arm in a blind attempt to hit Cormag. The flat of the sword hit something hard.

She looked up to see a sword at her neck. But she smiled, she saw her sword near his leg, she had scored a touch on him! She looked at him and said, "Pay up!"

Cormag looked questioningly at her, so she elaborated. "You said you would tell me how to do that voice thingy if I hit you during practice! So pay up!"

A small smile appeared on Cormag's face. "Later," he simply said.

Corvus, who had been watching the fight, walked up to Mia. "Do you want to duel me?" Mia looked slightly uncertain at the huge sword strapped to Corvus' back. But she was never one to turn down a spar, so she accepted.

The tan Nabatan removed his sword from his back and casted it aside. "If I used Saf'Erode I would win by weapon advantage only, I have a different plan." He walked right up to Cormag and plucked The Arbiter right out of its sheath. The sword shifted into a new form. It was a sword still, but it had two blades. One coming out from each side. Corvus twirled it expertly in one hand.

The fight was quick. _Very _quick. Mia just didn't have the experience against such a sword so Corvus defeated her utterly. But when she challenged him to a rematch, he declined. "I will never fight with a sword like that again. I swore that. Now I will continue that vow." He had left after that leaving a very puzzled Mia. Cormag had told her not to worry about it.

Life continued much like this on the ship for a while. Peaceful, except for spars. Every person honed their skills.

Then the battle came.

* * *

Raven Laguz. Raven Laguz _bandits._

They had attacked very suddenly. Only Soren had seen them coming. Only a few members of the company had been prepared. They held off the ravens until the others got their weapons. There weren't many of the ravens, but the flying crows were not easy opponents. You had to be quick if you wanted to deal solid damage to them.

Cormag had only killed one raven so far. Shade had killed more than him, he had a bow and the ravens were reckless. They swooped low and close making it very hard to miss.

"Shade! Over there! Daein wyverns!" Cormag cried.

Shade took careful aim with his steel bow. Three wyvern knights were visible. Shade released the arrow. It flew and hit one of the riders in the sword arm, causing him to fall from his mount.

"Nice shot Shade!" Cormag said grinning.

Shade was hesitant to respond, "I was aiming for the wyvern."

Cormag's smile froze on his face.

Then another crow attacked him and any retort he had for Shade was lost.

He slashed many a crow, but they merely flew away as soon as he struck. Mia, Corvus and Cynthar were not having good luck either. Kay and her Cataclysm tome were however. She flung great balls of rending flame. The fire was the hottest Cormag had ever felt except for Vincent's fire. His was actually similar to Kay's for some reason.

The battle dragged on for hours. They had run aground on a reef. Not good. One of the wyvern riders had defected to their side, some red haired woman. After an eternity, the last raven corpse fell into the blue watery grave. It wasn't very blue anymore, it was very red.

Ike and a few others went ashore. Cormag had planned to go with, but then he saw the people that greeted them. Dragon Laguz. He most certainly wouldn't help with a sword that was partially a dragon slaying weapon. Corvus stayed as well, his sword was made from a dragon claw.

* * *

"Alright, it's later. Time to tell me!"

Cormag sighed. He was in his room on the ship. The one he shared with the rest of his band. Corvus, Cynthar, Kay and now Shade.

Cormag looked at Mia. She was as eager and cheerful as usual.

"Here, take The Arbiter."

Mia accepted it. Cormag had told Vincent to do the rest. It was nice to have someone else do your dirty work. And plus, he now got to watch Mia's expression.

First she was puzzled. Then surprised. Next an unknown emotion. And finally disbelief.

_Ah, it's the simple things in life that make me laugh._

She slowly handed The Arbiter back to Cormag.

Then she walked out of the room without saying anything.

_What did you say? She never would just walk away like that._

_-I told her what she needed to know. For her sake and yours. You can thank me later.-_

_She looks like she just got told her mother died!_

_-I merely pointed something out to her. She was just surprised, due to it having to do with you.-_

_What!_

_-Have fun kid.-_

* * *

**Author Note: Yay! Cormag's conscious! NOTE: This chpt wasn't all that great, so next chpt, which is more important, will be better. This chpt was boring, in game and here. I cared more about the sparring fight than the actual chpt battle. So that's it! I probably will have two or three chpts to upload when I get back. I'm going to show off and upload them all at once though ;)**

**-CR**

"**Quiet you! This is my big moment!"**

**-Lowell, The Last Story**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Yay! More boring chpts! Don't own 9!

* * *

Cormag handed her The Arbiter. Mia accepted it, not knowing how it attributed to doing the creepy voice thing.

_-Think your responses. I'll hear them.-_

_W-what?_

_-Oh, this'll be fun. I'm Vincent.-_

_How…are you talking to me?_

_-…Would it suffice to say magic?-_

…_No._

_-I thought not. Alright. I'm a hero from a thousand years ago, I appear here with no memory in this rock gemlike thing. I'm the reason Cormag's sword works like it does. And that was the short version in case you were wondering.-_

_I don't…understand. How can a human be in a rock?_

_-More like a consciousness in a vessel. But onto more important things.-_

_Like…what?_

_-I know the future. Specifically, Cormag's future.-_

_And what does that mean for me?_

_-Quick to catch on, I like that, kid. What I'm saying, is that Cormag is infatuated with you.-_

_WHAT!?_

_-Haha, you kids, don't know your asses from your elbows. Trust me…I'm a tactician. And I know the future.-_

_No…he wouldn't love someone like me!_

_-Oh yes he would. And now that I've seen into your mind, I can see you love him too. He has a difficult moment coming up. You will see him through.-_

Mia dropped The Arbiter. She slowly walked out of the cabin room on the ship, still not believing what this 'Vincent' claimed.

_-Ah, young love. They aren't much different than _we _were. I wonder how she is…time travel's a bitch!-_

* * *

Shade walked the decks quietly. It was his nature to not cause noise. He was the perfect assassin. _Any_ organization would kill for him. That is, if he didn't gut them first.

"Shade? What're you doing up here?"

Shade turned to see Kay Farran walk over to him. Farran…that was an old word. He saw it in Nergal's old texts. Farran meant invincible warrior in an ancient language. A name she said she inherited from her father. It was a shame he wasn't alive…Shade would've liked to meet him.

"Yes?" Shade said in his soft majestic tone.

"You seem distracted. You didn't even answer my question!" Kay said curiously.

"Sorry Miss Farran, I was merely wandering about the ship this beautiful evening."

Kay huffed, "Shade! I told you not to call me 'Miss' anymore! We're friends! We don't need to stand ceremony with each other!"

Shade shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry Mi-, Kay. I haven't had a friend in many years, I've forgotten how to act around them."

Kay smiled, "Well, consider this long boat ride to be your chance!"

Shade smiled a small smile. He reached behind him, past the two knives on his back, to the violin on his back. He unlimbered it and took out the bow. He looked up to see Kay already sitting on the ground, eagerly awaiting his music. Shade smiled, and he played.

His music drifted quietly across the deck of the ship. It wove into the cabins and to the cargo hold. The silent ship was no longer silent. A quiet, slow melody roamed the air. Shade's hand glided upon the strings, his other hand maneuvering the bow to his every desire.

Every person who was currently awake listened. And they listened carefully to the peaceful melody. For a few minutes, no one on the boat moved. No words were uttered, no footsteps heard and not even the sounds of breathing were noticed.

Shade reached the end of the song. He opened his eyes to see Kay Farran asleep in front of him. He chuckled quietly and re-strapped the violin to his back. He silently walked to Kay's body and picked her up.

He walked slowly as to not wake her up. He made his way to their room. Upon opening the door, he saw Corvus in bed, asleep as well Cormag staring off into the distance to the port hole. The assailant paid them no mind as he stepped over to Cynthar who had fallen asleep sitting on his bed. Grinning, Shade laid Kay across his lap.

He took off his violin and set it down beside his wooden bed. His knives, of course, he never took off. An enemy could attack at any time. Shade was used to sleeping with all thirty identical knives hidden on his person. From his back to the inside of his legs were his knives hidden. He fell into a light sleep, happier than he had ever been in his entire life.

* * *

"Get to the third plank! Don't let those brigands board!" Corvus roared, for he had been put in charge of the defense of their ship while Ike led a party over for the offensive.

The princess of Crimea had ordered them to help the nearby Bengion ship which carried the empress of Bengion herself! For one of the first times, Soren agreed with her. Of course his reason was expected, "If we save her, we'll be in here debt." Corvus couldn't argue that. In fact, he agreed with it.

Corvus clutched his sword, Saf'Erode, in his bandaged hand as he cleaved one of the brigand's arms off. The man fell to the icy ocean below. That was not a fate Corvus wanted. He had been born in a desert, not a watery scape. Drowning was a fear of his.

So he made it a point to not stray onto the thin planks that could lead to that doom. Saf'Erode was long enough to finalize any fight that came towards him. The dragon claw was a fearsome weapon. He had chosen the Magvelian word of dragon and combined it with the word for claw and named his sword thus.

Some crows had joined the fight, but for the most part, they had refrained from attacking. It was irrelevant, so long as they didn't enter the fray again. Crows were hard opponents to beat.

The Jackal slashed with his blade at the next man who thought themselves strong enough to best him. The man was sorely disappointed when his head rolled. The next opponent was a heavily armored knight, much like the one they had recruited, Gatrie was it? Corvus changed his stance to one where he held his sword with two hands. The knight thrust his spear forward. Corvus knocked it aside and slashed at the armor of the man. His foe was brave, if he fell, he _would_ drown.

"Sorry 'bout this!" Corvus feinted to the right, held his blow back and followed up with a strike to the left. The armored man began to wobble. He dropped his spear to the ocean below so as to steady himself. Corvus didn't give him the chance and whacked him again. The man screamed as he fell to his watery grave below.

Soon after that, the battle resolved. They found the empress, safe and sound. No casualties. All was well. Corvus sighed with relief. He searched for Cormag. He found him talking with Mia, both were heavily engaged with the conversation. Corvus kept back and stroked his chin. What was going on between those two?

* * *

**Author Note: I really dislike these four chpts I'm uploading. Not MY chpts, the game chpts. Very dull, not very fun. Anyway! Man, I was looking at the poll of what to write next. Its kinda sad to see the choice you REALLY want to write and have good ideas for not have any votes. I mean, c'mon! A mission impossible fic FE7 style, who doesn't find that cool?! Even The Last Story choice has more votes than it! I know I'll have to write that FE13 one next…ah well. It is, in a way, related to this series of fics.**

**And for the Shade poll, Lucia is kicking ass right now. Go cast your votes! Actually, Lucia's my preference, but I will do what the reader wishes!**

**-CR**

"**Life's a bitch, huh?"**

**-Durzo Blint, The Night Angel Trilogy**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't really like these…they're annoying

* * *

Begnion was a majestic place. The theocracy had the architecture of numerous lifetimes built into it. Everything from vast towers to grand churches of the goddess Ashera.

It was actually quite boring.

Cormag had arrived at Begnion a few days prior. They hadn't done anything of importance yet. Corvus had gone on a mercenary mission to round up some more gold for spending. Kay and Cynthar were being romantic and were exploring the city. And you could never find Shade unless he allowed you too. As Cynthar put it, 'he's a wily bastard.'

And Mia…

She was avoiding him for some reason. Cormag hadn't the faintest idea why, their conversation left him more than a little confused…

* * *

_The battle had resolved, a few bandits here and there but they clearly won. Cormag approached Mia._

"_How fare thee Miss Mia?"_

_She turned to look at him. She grinned slightly at his flowery speech. Corvus would be jealous, Cormag was speaking better Sain than him._

"_I fare well master of the blade, how fare thyself?_

_Oh, she was good. Cormag had competition._

"_Henceforth, so long as a maiden as beautiful as you is faring well, so shalt I!_

_Mia was openly trying not to laugh now. "Thee should not complement myself as such with false praise! It is utmost shameful!_

"_Oh beauteous angel! How could a peasant alike myself not be enchanted by thy beauty?"_

"_Thee cannot mean that truly! Not whenst there art far more beauteous women about!"_

"_Surely you jest!"_

"_Jesting is for the jesters my good man, thy gaze is best set in better sights."_

_Cormag couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing and Mia soon followed. They laughed for several minutes before pulling themselves together._

"_Did you actually mean any of that Cormag?" Mia questioned, still gasping for breath._

"_Why Mia! I never lie!" Cormag asserted, desperately trying to keep his calm personality as well as catch his breath._

"_Yes you do. Everyone lies. Lies are useful."_

"_Well, I could never lie to you!" Cormag stated._

"_What is that supposed to mean?" Mia said suspiciously._

Shit._ Cormag wished he could take those seven words back. "Um…w-well…how's the weather look today?"_

-Holy shit. Even I had a better recovery line than that. You are terrible at this.-

Shut it.

_Mia raised her eyebrows until they couldn't be seen amongst her flowing purple hair. "Why don't you just look, we _are_ outside."_

God dammit.

"_Fair point…" Cormag trailed off._

-You have got to be the most pathetic person ever. Even insane me could do better.-

"_Why are you scratching your head in frustration Cormag?" Mia asked, thinking a change in topic was the best course of action for the moment._

_Cormag hesitated a bit, then said, "Vincent."_

_Not where Mia wanted the conversation to go._

_Cormag decided to keep on the train of thought, "What did he tell you when you spoke to him? You looked as though you'd seen a ghost!"_

-You shouldn't poke into a lady's affairs.-

"_Um…that…is private?" Mia said._

_The tables turned and now Cormag was raising his eyebrows very high. Mia began to blush._

"_Is it private?" Cormag teased._

"_Yes!" Mia nearly shouted._

_Cormag took a step back in surprise. Mia seemed slightly shock she shouted, but stood by her point._

* * *

And ever since that, Mia had been avoiding him. He was glad that conversation didn't force him to admit his feelings to her. She probably would have skewered him with that silver sword.

So, with nothing to do, Cormag wandered the city. Therefore doing something.

"Two loaves of bread, two gold coins! A bargain!"

"-and then he says to me, god dammit sir! Shut up!"

"She still owes me thirty gold…"

"-the desert holds many bandits, but this new one scares me."

Cormag decided to conveniently lean against a wall and just so happen to hear the conversation. In other words, he began to drop eaves.

"-demon roams the sand, killing everything in sight."

"A friend of mine said he saw 'im once, a tall man with a blade the color of blood."

"They say he killed an entire Begnion patrol!"

"The desert is best avoided. By anyone and ever'one. No one is safe with that madman loose."

The two men went their separate ways and left Cormag to ponder what he just heard. _A demon bandit…sounds like fun!_

_-No.-_

_Huh? What's that Vincent?_

_-You would die.-_

_I'm _the _swordmaster. I don't die._

_-Then another comrade would in your place. That man in the desert is not one to tangle with. So don't.-_

* * *

Cynthar slashed with his staff sword. He was having some difficulty, his sword skills were somewhat lacking. But his dagger was at Kay's side, so he didn't have an alternative.

The apostle had apparently given them a job. Cynthar wouldn't know though, he was a lowly mercenary. No one confided with an average man or woman.

He gripped the emerald pommel of his blade as he slashed at another man. The opponent blocked and retaliated. Cynthar tried to step back to put distance between them, but his limp in his foot caused him to trip and fall over.

A spear swiftly slid through the man staring down at him. Corvus was there, holding a bloody lance.

"You use lances?" Cynthar said curiously.

"No better time to learn. So no."

Cynthar nodded, used to Corvus' attempts to make more of a challenge out of fights.

The battle continued on and on and on. It was pretty pathetic, the enemies were very weak and the closest thing they got to a casualty was Shade falling into the river. He wasn't hurt, but it made everyone laugh after the battle.

They took back whatever they seized to the apostle. Cynthar never found out what it was.

_What a stupid mission! I could have still been in that café with Kay!_

* * *

**Author Note: I am of Cynthar's opinion here. Pointless, boring chpt here. So let's move to more interesting things, like a fic recommendation! I've been reading Fire Emblem: Spellbinding Radiance for a while, I'm on like chpt 85. It. Is. Amazing. And sad. Very sad at some points. I thought Asleep was sad with that recent chpt, but this was worse in my opinion. But I have hope that maybe things will be looking up! You can never know with FoxwolfJackson (That's who wrote it in case you couldn't figure it out!) Definitely making my top5 list!**

**So please review. If I don't get at least three reviews for a months' worth of chpts, imma scream. I mean really, four chpts. That is the equivalent to one month. I'll be done before the winter holidays with this fic. Or maybe by the end of summer, it just depends.**

**-CR, IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!**

"**I guess I should be thankful."**

**-Falco, Star Fox**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Bow ties are cool. I don't own that quote, neither do I own FE.

* * *

She may have been avoiding him, but that didn't stop her from coming to train with him.

Slash. Parry. Block. Roll.

Such was the way of battle. The melody of the sword.

Mia jumped back from Cormag's attack. No longer was he going easy on her anymore. He was in full battle mode, and there was an opponent in his path. Their training swords had taken a beating, Mia could feel hers ready to break. Cormag's was likely the same, his strikes were powerful!

But she was faster. Not by much, but noticeable for any veteran soldier. But he had experience, strength and skill on his side.

Fighting was a good way to rid herself of her troubles. It helped her forget what Vincent said. It helped her forget what she thought of Cormag. It helped her forget what she thought Cormag thought of her.

She repositioned herself, raised her sword and dove forward slashing viciously. Cormag anticipated this of course, and jumped to avoid the strike. He jumped and, sword overhead continued his assault. A rain of blows showered over her. Battle was about quick decisions, she made one. She rolled to the left.

Wrong move.

Cormag, faster than should have been possible, moved to where she rolled and pointed his sword at her neck.

"Dead," Cormag stated with a small grin.

Mia groaned. Loss number one hundred seventeen.

"Ready for round two?" Cormag cocked his head questioningly.

"…Give me your worst, no holding back!" Mia replied, regaining her optimistic attitude.

"My worst? Well…Vincent says he wants to go toe to toe with you."

Mia froze, "Is that…possible?"

Cormag nodded gently. His right arm twitched, his sword arm. When Mia looked back into his eye, it was red.

"Hello Mia, I'm ready when you are," Vincent said. His voice was Cormag's, but…different. He drew The Arbiter and it morphed in his hand. It became a sword with two parallel curved blades protruding from the hilt. He twirled it and held the blade so that it pointed behind him. He snapped his fingers, "At your ready!"

* * *

Cormag's mind was not his own. He could feel memories that were not his own. He was in Vincent's mind. The tables turned. He watched the memories as they went by.

* * *

"_Come now, as my future father in law, you must train me in the way of battle so I may rescue the defenseless damsels!" the man before him said._

"_Wouldn't it be wise to not cheat on your wife to be?" Vincent said, arching an eyebrow._

"_Old habits die hard I suppose," the man said sheepishly._

* * *

"_I'm insane. I'm the one who guides this war. I am the tactician, the harbinger of the end. With me, we win, without, we die." He snapped his fingers, "So what say you now? Doubt me or follow me?"_

* * *

"_I'm good. Yeah, he died, I am so good."_

"_Good enough to know where to spend your gold?"_

"_You would kill me if I were to not spend at your shop."_

* * *

"_Today…we topple this tyrant! Today…we bring an end to this infernal war!"_

* * *

_He brushed a hand through his black hair. He took a deep breath and walked over to her._

_He opened his mouth to speak, "…Dinner?"_

_She smiled at him, "Starving."_

* * *

_He opened the tome and cast a fire spell. It was far more powerful than an ordinary tome's spells. What a weapon he had found._

* * *

_The wind blew through his hair. The last day was upon him. Last of the war and his own. Today he set what was right. Today he eradicated the beast that threatened his wife and child as well as the rest of the land._

* * *

_-Having fun?-_

_W-what? Vincent?_

_-Who else.-_

_Who won?_

_-Me. Are you creeping in my head?-_

_I wouldn't use creeping, but yes._

_-I don't care. Leave now though.-_

…_okay._

* * *

Cormag blinked his eye. It quickly shifted from red to blue.

Mia sighed inwardly with relief. She didn't trust Vincent. He had a sword style that was completely foreign to her. Although…it probably wasn't best to judge someone on that.

"Mia?"

"Y-yes?" she said, snapping back to attention.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Given how you just asked two, yes." She inwardly grinned. Cormag had a smile flash on his face for a moment.

"…Tell me Mia, why do you fight? Why pick up the sword when you could live in peace? Do enjoy the battle? Or do you seek fame and fortune? Do you fight for peace and prosperity? Or to protect your loved ones? Tell me Mia, why do you follow this path of swords?" Cormag asked.

Mia opened her mouth to reply…but then stopped. Why did she fight?

Cormag noticed he had got her thinking, "No need to answer it now. Just keep that in mind, you can never be the best without a reason."

"Why do you fight?" Mia said, hoping to get ideas.

"I fight for a better tomorrow." At that, Cormag walked away, leaving Mia to her thoughts.

_Why do I fight? For money? No…well, not entirely. Everyone needs a job. He's right, I could live in peace…away from my family. Never am I going back there. But fame? Being the best has a nice ring to it…but that isn't why…_

One word followed her throughout her day.

It followed her to battle the next day.

_Why?_

* * *

It was the next day. They had gone to the desert and fought some Laguz bandits of some sort. They met a new swordmaster, one who she eagerly wished to duel.

She was seeking Cormag, and as expected, she found him at the training field.

_I know him better than I thought._

"Good day to you Mia, what brings you here?"

She bit her lip while she pondered what to say. "I have the answer to your question."

Cormag sheathed his sword and sat upon the ground. He motioned for her to join him.

"I fight for those I love. So that I can protect them when they are in need. When I took that arrow for Kay yesterday, I realized it. Life is meaningless without love and friendship. I never want to be without friends again, and I plan to protect the ones I have 'til the day I die!"

Cormag looked at her thoughtfully. "Good answer. It's just what I expected from you. I wouldn't be here if not for those I care for. They help on and off the battle field."

He smiled at her, "Well, you're here and so am I…so you want to spar?"

Her response was to unsheathe her sword.

* * *

**Author Note: Booooooring. Ah well, I'll make it up to you. The battle at the Daein castle will be the Lloyd chpt of this fic. For those of you who didn't read TS, the fight with Lloyd was my longest chpt to date and had a loooong battle in it. I can't wait 'til then.**

**Spellbinding Radiance was AMAZING! If you ignore all of my fic requests, don't ignore this. This guy who wrote it, is almost as good as Gunlord500, and his fic might be better! So go check it out! Please! Support it for new chpts!**

**Four chpts huh, not bad. Uploading a day before I meant too, but hell, I don't care. Off to play FE4! Toodles!**

**-CR, Go read that fic, BEST. EVER!**

"**Rest if for the weak!"**

**-Della, Still Ongoing (Sardonic Kender Smile)**


	14. Farewell

**Hello everyone! I have two things to address here, and we'll start with the guest review!**

**Chpt8reviewer, I won't deny it, my planned response was: And what gives you the impression that I give a shit?**

**But that's not what I'm going to say. Yeah, my story overlaps, and it's a shitty story. And this time, you have made perfect sense! This is exactly where I don't want to be. But, I feel like I should give my rational for why I wrote this first. Say you have three ideas, one is amazing, one is not quite as amazing, and the other is only okay. You have never written anything before (story format). So what do you choose? I chose the bad one, I didn't want to screw up the good ideas.**

**You say I have potential? Fuck you**

**Which brings me to point number two! **

**You all will not like this. But this series of fics is being DISCONTINUED! That's right, bye bye Cormag! So sorry to all who actually enjoyed these! But I have begun not to enjoy them either. Please a review be honest please) whether you enjoyed this or not. Please flame if you want to. Or if you want it to be anonymous, profile page, new poll.**

**Back to you guest reviewer, your review has influenced me to this. For that, I thank you. I never have wanted to be the best writer on the site, never the most famous fics, but there was one thing that I wanted to be able to take pride in:**

**I always wanted to finish every fic I started. No matter how disliked, the words 'the end' would appear in the final chpt.**

**But I can no longer say that.**

**But I'm not done yet.**

**Not even close.**

**The game has just begun.**

**You will be seeing me soon.**

_**Next fic:**_

**Sanity is not what it's meant to be**

**-CR**


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